Trade Mission to Israel Leads to Pediatric Research Agreement

A recent trade mission to Israel led by Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter has led to a new research agreement between The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), Drexel University, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The partnership will be focused on pediatric translational research and moving investigations from the bench to the bedside. In addition, a conference in Philadelphia in January 2014 will give researchers from all three institutions the chance to connect and share ideas.

“I am proud to see two great Philadelphia institutions, CHOP and Drexel University, expand their research overseas,” said Mayor Nutter. “The partnership with Hebrew University will allow all three parties to share research and ultimately improve children’s healthcare.” The research agreement was signed in a ceremony at Jerusalem’s City Hall on November 11.

Mayor Nutter’s trade mission to Israel was part of a trip that began with a stop in London, where the Mayor met with companies interested in doing business in Philadelphia, visited Pennsylvania founder William Penn’s gravesite, and met with Prince Edward, the Earl of Sussex.

The research agreement with Hebrew University is hardly Children’s Hospital’s first connection to Israel and Israeli researchers. A number of CHOP researchers were trained at Israeli universities — including cancer researcher Yael Mossé, MD, and geneticist Ian D. Krantz, MD — and last year Flaura Winston, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention, spent over a week in Israel, conferring with safety organizations, visiting hospitals, and meeting with government officials in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa.

“The collaboration between The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Drexel University, and Hebrew University will create an excellent environment for translating basic science into practical applications,” said President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Menahem Ben-Sasson, PhD.

Prior to the recent agreement, Drexel University and Hebrew University already had a partnership of their own in place, the Joint Drexel-Hebrew University Institute for Drug Research Hub. The new collaboration with CHOP will “address unmet needs in pediatrics through innovative commercial pediatric therapeutics and diagnostics,” said John A. Fry, president of Drexel University.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with two exceptional institutions — Drexel University and Hebrew University’s School of Pharmacy — whose expertise in technology and drug delivery respectively will create a unique partnership that enables high-quality, rapid advancement of new treatments in pediatric medicine for children around the world,” said CHOP CEO Steven M. Altschuler, MD.

For more information, see the press release about the announcement. And for pictures of the recent trade mission, see a blog Mayor Nutter’s office set up about the trade mission.