Gates Foundation funds 43 scientists' proposals
According to this Dow Jones Newswire story on the Wall Street Journal site, the Gates Foundation has committed $450M to what it calls its "Grand Challenges in Global Health" initiative:
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced Monday that it is funding 43 proposals on public health research with grants totaling $436.6 million. The grants will pay for research ranging from finding AIDS vaccines to boosting the nutritional content of bananas.
The proposals were chosen from 1,500 submitted by scientists in response to questions asked by the foundation two years ago. The questions were: How can we improve public health in developing countries? Can we develop vaccines that don't require refrigeration or needles? Are there better ways to stop insects from spreading malaria and other diseases?