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Dr. Steven Buchsbaum is Deputy Director, Discovery & Translational Sciences, Global Health Program of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. We use Grand Challenges to seek new knowledge or new concepts that will lead to interventions that would not otherwise have occurred or that would not have occurred as quickly without our investment. Inherent in this…to learn from these mistakes. In the last decade, we and our partners have run numerous challenge calls ranging from very specific technical calls seeking new biomarkers for TB to new concepts for promoting health seeking behaviors. Each of these varied challenge calls can be viewed as an experiment and increasingly we aspire to evaluate these individual experiments to permit the…To this end, we can view each challenge call as an independent experiment to be evaluated.  If we apply this analysis to the original GCGH call which supported 44 projects, nine are currently on a pathway towards development (GREEN projects, 20%) and ten contribute essential tools or knowledge to other development projects (YELLOW projects, 23%). …be published as well as proprietary concepts from commercial sources.  Collectively, this new information and perspective has shaped the Foundation’s thinking in this area and guided the design of a range of planned initiatives. [caption id="attachment_14799" align="alignright" width="300"] Photo courtesy of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation[/caption] Increased funding for innovation Grand Challenges continues to provide…

March 8 is International Women's Day. We celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women, but it is also a moment to raise awareness about the many struggles of women worldwide. Family violence (often a synonym for violence against women) is, unfortunately, a prevalent universal phenomenon, irrespective of whether a country is poor or rich. Violence kills more than 1.6 million people each year.…intimidation or lack of reporting.  In many nations today, victims of family violence suffer in silence, due to the limited availability of healthcare, the lack of social support services or stigma. Violence directly affects people’s health, resulting in physical, mental, sexual, reproductive and other health problems. It may, for example, increase vulnerability to HIV and…such as spouses, fathers or fathers-in-law. As many as 38% of murders of women are committed by an intimate partner. The Government of Canada has made the promotion of women’s and girl’s human rights and gender equality a central element of its domestic and foreign policies. It is a cause all Canadians feel strongly about.…

Grand Challenges Canada believes that offering innovators breathing room to develop bold ideas that have big impact is a recipe for sustainable and viable solutions in global health. Funded by the Government of Canada, we developed the ‘Stars in Global Health’ program to support these kinds of ideas from the best and brightest talents, both in low- and middle-income countries and in Canada. The ecosystem we have developed is transparent and effective. Initially, we fund ‘proof of concept’ projects with grants of up to $100,000. If the concept is proven and has the potential to be transformative, the innovations have the opportunity to move to the next phase, called ‘transition…first pre-natal visit. Through this intervention, the rate of still births and the neonatal mortality rate were cut almost in half along with a slight but statistically significant reduction in maternal mortality rate. By comparing the outcomes in the experimental group with the control group, the project team determined that the lives of 32 foetuses,…

…Joseph L. Rotman, the Chairman of Grand Challenges Canada’s Board of Directors, and now hear them often repeated internally. In other words, we knew what were planning to do, but now we needed to figure out how to actually do it.[1]   [caption id="attachment_10685" align="aligncenter" width="400"] While ideas and innovation are essential, implementation is key…iterative process, building on the strengths of both organizations to shape a well-crafted agreement that will achieve the intended results. Our level of engagement with innovators varies significantly depending on the project size, complexity, and risk. Appropriate partnership with our funded innovators is critical and good communication is essential for achieving results. We encourage our innovators to communicate openly with us about the process (including funding negotiations and project management) and our partnership, and also raise any…six-part series here and reach out to him on Twitter @RvShih. Notes [1] Another way to interpret the same phrase: you don’t win any awards for coming up with brilliant strategy in absence of action. For example, a mass-market retailer like Wal-Mart can strive to profit by providing low margin goods at huge volumes. A…There was absolutely no way I was going to miss Bill Gates’ keynote address for a side meeting. [3] One of the side meetings that I was invited to attend was with Liz Bird and Brad Tytel of a New York based consulting firm called Global Health Strategies. They provided fantastic advice and insight but…

[caption id="attachment_52138" align="alignleft" width="291"] Leeat Gellis - Director of Social Finance, Grand Challenges Canada[/caption] The Transform Health Fund aims to bolster healthcare systems across Africa by scaling proven and innovative healthcare models. Recently, AfricInvest and The Health Finance Coalition announced the final close, successfully raising $111 million through a mix of commercial, public, and private…improve access, affordability, resilience and quality of healthcare on the continent. It invests in locally-led companies delivering innovative primary healthcare models, digitally enabled healthcare solutions, and health supply chain transformation. The fund was established as a joint venture between AfricInvest, an African private equity firm with a 30-year track record, and the Health Finance Coalition,…of the fund, having raised $111M USD from investors and surpassing their initial $100M USD target. This type of fund is needed because there is still a significant financing gap for social enterprises, particularly for companies in the healthcare space that are trying to reach underserved or unserved communities. How does the Fund work? Transform Health Fund is…on impact. It aims to scale proven, innovative healthcare models with a goal of bolstering local health systems. Its investment process, governance and inclusion of impact incentive bonuses have all been designed thoughtfully to maximize Transform Health Fund’s potential impact. Lastly, as mentioned earlier, one of GCC’s ultimate motivations is to mobilize other funders. This…

Organizations have announced further funding opportunities to address the global COVID-19 pandemic. Below is a list of some of the funding opportunities available for you and your organization to help combat COVID-19 around the world.   Islamic Development Bank Call for Innovation via Transform Fund 2020 The Islamic Development Banks has announced the ‘Transform Fund Call …funding opportunities that meet your need. Deadline: N/A Learn more Open Road Alliance Response to COVID-19 The Open Road Alliance has funding opportunities ranging from charitable grants up to $100,000 USD and loans in amounts up to $1 million USD. Their loan program covers lost even revenue, accelerating incoming emergency funds, and co-investing to support…innovations. They have a databased webpage of the various grant opportunities available around the world. Deadline: N/A Learn more Co-Creation Hub Call for Projects - Funding and Design Support for COVID-19 Projects The Co-Creation Hub is looking to fund and provide research and design support via their Design Lab for COVID-19 related projects. Deadline: N/A…

…and microbiologic safety of flash-heated treatment of breast milk: preventing postnatal transmission of HIV through modifying breast-feeding practices in developing countries." World Breast Feeding week (August 1 to 7) is an important reminder about breast milk’s distinct and irreplaceable value to the human infant, and an opportunity to advocate the importance of breast feeding for better health and the healthy development of infants. [caption id="attachment_14402" align="alignleft" width="200"] Mother Flash Heating Breast Milk[/caption] Breastfeeding provides numerous short and long-term benefits for both mother…of where they live. According to WHO, the optimal feeding pattern for overall child survival is exclusive breast-feeding for the first 6 months and continued breast-feeding for up to 2 years and beyond, with complementary feeding from the age of 6 months. Sadly, HIV-infected mothers may transmit the virus to their infants through breast feeding.…