The Gates Foundation
From the August 6 Lancet "ViewPoint."
Endowed with $26 billion and a larger annual global health budget than WHO. In January, 2003, the Foundation launched a Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative to stimulate scientific researchers to develop solutions to critical scientific and technological problems that, if solved, could lead to important advances against diseases of the developing world. Administered by the Foundation of the National Institutes of Health, the Grand Challenges initiative issued an open call to investigators from anywhere in the world to propose ideas to an international scientific board. In October, 2003, the first 14 Grand Challenges were announced; selected from more than 1000 submissions, and readied for research proposals, which are currently competing for $200 million in research grants. grouped into seven goals, ranging from improving the measurement of health status to bettering nutrition, vaccines, and treatments for infections, and control of vector-borne diseases, the Grand Challenges appear poised to improve the health of the underdeveloped world.
Goal: To improve childhood vaccines
GC#1: Create effective single-dose vaccines that can be used soon after birth
GC#2: Prepare vaccines that do not require refrigeration
GC#3: Develop needle-free delivery systems for vaccines
Goal: To create new vaccines
GC#4: Devise reliable tests in model systems to evaluate live attenuated vaccines
GC#5: Solve how to design antigens for effective, protective immunity
GC#6: Learn which immunological responses provide protective immunity
Goal: To control insects that transmit agents of disease
GC#7: Develop a genetic strategy to deplete or incapacitate a disease-transmitting insect population
GC#8: Develop a chemical strategy to deplete or incapacitate a disease-transmitting insect population
Goal: To improve nutrition to promote health
GC#9: Create a full range of optimal, bioavailable nutrients in a single staple plant species
Goal: To improve drug treatment of infectious diseases
GC#10: Discover drugs and delivery systems that minimise the likelihood of drug resistant microorganisms
Goal: To cure latent and chronic infections
GC#11: Create therapies that can cure latent infections
GC#12: Create immunological methods that can cure chronic infections
Goal: To measure disease and health status accurately and economically in developing countries
GC#13: Develop technologies that permit quantitative assessment of population health status
GC#14: Develop technologies that allow assessment of individuals for multiple conditions or pathogens at point-of-care