This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. TEDxJaffa partnered with The British Council [http://www.britishcouncil.org.il/en], which connects people with learning opportunities and creative ideas from the UK. BIRAX [http://www.britishcouncil.org.il/en/programmes/science/birax] (the Britain Israel Research and Academic Exchange Partnership) is a £10 million initiative of the British Council and British Embassy in Israel that funds cutting-edge research using stem cell therapies to tackle some of the world’s most dreadful diseases.

Tamir Ben-Hur is a professor of Neurology and the Israel S. Weschler Chair in Neurology at The Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School. He earned his MD and PhD in Virology from the Hebrew University (1989), trained in Neurology at Hadassah University Hospital (until 1994) and conducted post-doctoral studies at The Pasteur Institute in Paris (1995 – 97). He is Chairman of the Department of Neurology (Since 2005) and Director of the Division for Clinical Neurosciences (since 2013) at Hadassah – Hebrew University Medical Centre.

Prof Ben-Hur’s research focuses on the therapeutic properties of stem cells and their bilateral interactions with the nervous system in normal and pathologic states. He partners with Siddharthan Chandran; Siddharthan’s TED talk at TED Global 2013. Their work identified previously unknown therapeutic properties of stem cells, which laid the basis for clinical translation of stem cell therapy in multiple sclerosis. His clinical interests are in general Neurology and Neuro-Immunology. He has published numerous papers in basic and clinical neurosciences, and serves as scientific advisor for several start-up companies in the field of regenerative medicine and on the editorial board of several neuroscience journals.

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