Unconventional is the theme of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s latest round of endorsements. The foundation on Monday awarded 81 five-year research grants of $100,000 to scientists pursuing bold ideas that could lead to breakthroughs, focusing on ways to prevent and treat infectious diseases, such as HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, pneumonia and diarrheal diseases [AP].
One grant, for example, will be awarded to Rutgers University’s Eric Lam, who is working to develop tomatoes that can deliver antiviral drugs. Another grant will fund a British research team attempting to compile a library of all possible mutations of HIV with the ultimate goal of a vaccine that can protect against many variant forms of the virus. In the US, [one researcher will receive] a grant to see if shooting a laser at a person’s skin before administering a vaccine can enhance immune response [Telegraph].
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In an effort to make polio the second infectious disease wiped off the face of the planet, a group of charities and governments has pledged $630 million over five years to bolster vaccination efforts. The new cash infusion is spearheaded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which committed $255 million, with Rotary International and the governments of Germany and the United Kingdom promising the rest of the money.
Public health officials point hopefully to the example of smallpox, which was eradicated in 1980 after an unprecedented global campaign, but the recent statistics on polio show how tricky and expensive the endgame can be to eliminate a disease…. The polio vaccine was first created in the 1950s and the disease was quickly killed off in the U.S. and many parts of the world. Strong gains against polio continued through the 1990s but an uptick last year in the number of reported cases has health officials and donors concerned that it could re-infect parts of the world [The Wall Street Journal].
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