The Helen and Martin Kimmel Institute for Stem Cell Research

Dov Zipori, Director
The Joe and Celia Weinstein Professorial Chair

The Stem Cell Club, founded in 2004, at the Weizmann Institute included scientists from the Weizmann Institute as well as other Israeli Academic Centers. The Club organized "The First International Stem Cell Symposium", 28th–29th November 2004 and the "Stem Cell Meeting", 16th November 2005. Both of these meetings took place on campus. This activity was then followed by the formation of the Stem Cell Center in Establishment that provided support for several research groups at the Weizmann Institute leading the way to the initiative for the establishment of the Israel Stem Cell Society (ISCS). The Center contributed to allocation of major funds dedicated to the purchase of advanced cell analysis and imaging equipment. The establishment of the Helen and Martin Kimmel Stem Cell Research Institute in 2006 boosts stem cell activities: The Stem Cell Institute has undertaken the organization of the "International Stem Cell Meeting: Stem Cells and their Microenvironment", in conjunction with the Israeli ILSI-BioMed, June 2007. This meeting has been a major event that attracted the majority of stem cell researchers in Israel. Leaders in the stem cell research field from America, Europe and Asia also participated in the meeting. The success of this first event encouraged the organizers of The Second International Stem Cell Meeting to maintain the structure of the event and to hold it along side the ILSI-BioMed, May 2008 in Tel Aviv. The third meeting in this series took place during 2009. During 2011 the fourth meeting is the series is planned to take place in Shiba Medical Center.

A Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) of the Stem Cell Research Institute has been established and has provided research grants to groups belonging to different Departments and Faculties within the Weizmann Institute. This activity is now in its fifth year and according to the experience gained, the SSC formulated instructions for grant applications. The call for applications is issued each year with the deadline of November and funding beginning the following January. Instructions for application are provided in the Research Grant and Project Office site.

During 2008-2010, The Helen and Martin Kimmel Institute for Stem Cell Research, hosted several guest speakers and visiting scientists. The Institute also hosted a local meeting of the ISCS devoted to presentations by young investigators. Last but not least, The Helen and Martin Kimmel Institute for Stem Cell Research, in collaboration with the Biological Services Department, has opened a new Stem Cell Core Facility aimed at promoting embryo stem cell research at the Weizmann Institute. This facility is now operative and serves many research groups by providing mouse and human embryonic stem cells, as well as adult stem cells and feeder cells. The facility further offers cell repository services.