Gates Foundations: Public health

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In January 2003, Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates challenged scientists to think big. He asked them to identify critical problems that stand in the way of improving the health of people in developing countries, and he announced that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation would bankroll novel research
projects aimed at solving them. Last week, after reviewing 1517 letters of intent and then inviting 445 investigators from 75 countries to submit full proposals, the foundation announced the winners: 43 projects that will receive a total of $437 million. “We all recognize that science and technology alone will not solve the health problems of the poor in the developing world,” says Richard Klausner, who runs the foundation’s global health program. “What science and technology can and must do, however, is create the possibility of new vaccines, new approaches, and new cures for diseases
and health conditions that for too long have been ignored.”