New Grants Initiative to Spur Innovative Research in Global Health

CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced today that it is committing $100 million over five years to create a new fast-track grants initiative to support innovative global health research. The initiative's goal is to encourage scientists worldwide to explore creative, unorthodox ideas that could lead to major breakthroughs against some of the greatest health challenges facing poor countries.

The new initiative, called Grand Challenges Explorations, will support hundreds of early-stage research projects—many pursuing ideas that have never before been tested and involving scientists from a wide range of disciplines. The Explorations initiative will focus on rapidly evaluating a large number of innovative ideas that could lead to new vaccines, diagnostics, drugs, and other technologies targeting diseases that claim millions of lives every year.

To read the full press release, visit the Grand Challenges Web site.