Gates Foundation Now Accepting Proposals for Grand Challenges Explorations

SEATTLE, March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
announced today that it is now accepting grant proposals for the first round
of Grand Challenges Explorations, a US$100 million initiative to encourage
bold and unconventional global health solutions. Proposals will be accepted
online at http://www.gcgh.org/explorations through May 30, 2008; applicants
must register their intent to submit a proposal by May 15, 2008.
The initiative, the first of its kind for the foundation, uses an agile,
accelerated grant-making process. Applications are two pages, and preliminary
data about the proposed research are not required. One of the primary
objectives of Grand Challenges Explorations is to involve scientists around
the world who don't typically work in global health -- this includes
innovators in Africa, Asia, and other parts of the developing world; those
from complementary disciplines and in the private sector; and young
investigators.
The first four topic areas for which proposals will be accepted through
the Grand Challenges Explorations initiative are:
-- Creating new ways to protect against infectious diseases, including
alternatives to traditional vaccination.
-- Creating new drugs and delivery systems to limit the emergence of
resistance from developing in the disease-causing agent.
-- Creating new ways to prevent or cure HIV infection that fall outside
current research on vaccines, antiretroviral drugs, and other
biomedical and behavior-change strategies.
-- Exploring the basis for latency in TB, with the goal of discovering new
ways to identify and eliminate latent infection, and break the cycle of
TB transmission.

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.
Full descriptions of these topic areas and application instructions are
available at http://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 Patty
Stonesifer and co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and
Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.
SOURCE Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Chris Adasiewicz of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, +1-206-709-3400,
media@gatesfoundation.org