Gates Foundation Now Accepting Proposals for Grand Challenges Explorations Round 2

[Jensiree Esaparn]

Dear Sir or Madam,

(See attached news release and poster)

This is Pensri Tasnavites, Director and Strategic Advisor of Health Counterparts Consulting & consultant for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Southeast Asia region. I'm writing to update you about -- the upcoming application for the global health grants awarded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, entitled the Grand Challenges Explorations initiative. The program aims to contribute to global health development with targeted funding for innovative ways to cure and prevent diseases. 

The program awards grants multiple times per year at approximately $100,000 each, plus additional funding of $1 million or more is available for projects that show promise.  I have also attached the poster for your kind information and dissemination.

The first round of Grand Challenges Explorations has been completed recently, with many of the winners from four continents worldwide, including the United States, Thailand, Uganda, Kenya, India, Cameroon, Mexico, Bangladesh, Italy, Germany, UK and France.

The upcoming application (the second round) is from September 2 to November 2, 2008.  Please visit www.gcgh.org/explorations for detailed information.

 

The topics of grant application for the second round of the Grand Challenges Explorations are:

·   Create New Vaccines for Diarrhea, HIV, Malaria, Pneumonia, and Tuberculosis (New topic)

·   Create New Tools to Accelerate the Eradication of Malaria (New topic)

·   Explore the Basis of Latency In Tuberculosis

·   Create New Ways to Prevent or Cure HIV Infection

·   Create New Ways of Protecting Against Infectious Disease

·   Create New Drugs and Delivery Systems To Limit the Emergence of Resistance

Should you have any queries, please feel free to contact me at pensri_hcc@... and +6681.810.3151.

 

Thank you.

 

Pensri Tasnavites, Ph.D.

Director, Strategic Advisor

Health Counterparts Consulting (HCC);

mobile: [phone]

 

Media contact:  Dr. Pensri Tasnavites, [phone] / pensri_hcc@...

September 3, 2008

Gates Foundation Now Accepting Proposals for Grand Challenges Explorations Round 2

SEATTLE – The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced today that it is now accepting grant proposals for Round 2 of Grand Challenges Explorations, a five-year US$100 million initiative to encourage bold and unconventional research on new global health solutions.  Proposals for six topics will be accepted online at www.gcgh.org/explorations through November 2, 2008.

Round 2 follows on the heels of the initiative's first funding round, which closed in May of this year, and generated nearly 4,000 applications from scientists in more than 100 countries.  Two new topics are being introduced in Round 2 along with the initial four topics from Round 1.

One of the primary objectives of Grand Challenges Explorations is to involve scientists around the world who do not typically work in global health.  This includes those with innovative ideas in Africa, Asia, and other parts of the developing world; people working in the private sector; and young investigators.

The initiative uses an agile, accelerated grant-making process.  Applications are two pages, and preliminary data about the proposed research are not required.  In addition, the online application process has been streamlined for Round 2.

The topic areas for which proposals will be accepted in Round 2 are:

• Create new vaccines for diarrhea, HIV, malaria, pneumonia, and TB
• Create new tools to accelerate the eradication of malaria
• Create new ways to protect against infectious diseases, including alternatives to traditional vaccination
• Create new drugs and delivery systems to limit the emergence of resistance in the disease-causing agent
• Create new ways to prevent or cure HIV infection that fall outside current research on vaccines and other biomedical and behavior-change strategies
• Explore the basis for latency in TB, with the goal of discovering new ways to identify and eliminate latent infection

The foundation and an independent group of reviewers will select the most innovative proposals, and grants will be awarded within approximately three months from the proposal submission deadline.  Initial grants will be $100,000 each.  Projects showing success will have the opportunity to receive additional funding of $1 million or more.  Round 1 grants are expected to be announced in October.

Full descriptions of the topic areas and application instructions are available at www.gcgh.org/explorations.

###

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives.  In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty.  In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people – especially those with the fewest resources – have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life.  Based in Seattle, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

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