CIMIT Forum: Role of Foundations in the Promotion of Cross-Disciplinary Research

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Role of Foundations in the Promotion of Cross-Disciplinary Research

1.25.2011

PRESENTER:
John Williams, PhD
Head of Clinical Activities and Head of Neuroscience & Mental Health, Wellcome Trust

MODERATOR:
Steven Schachter, MD
Chief Academic Officer and Program Leader of NeuroTechnology, CIMIT; Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School

Forum Summary

There are huge unmet healthcare needs in the world today, and doctors and research facilities are not distributed in proportion to those in need. Biomedical innovation over the last 50 years has focused on healthcare in developed nations and has created an economic model that is unsustainable. Research is a collaborative enterprise, and to improve healthcare worldwide, all parties involved need to change the way in which they operate. Academia needs to encourage multidisciplinary and translation research. Industry needs to promote affordability and openness. Governments need to incentivize innovation and improve public trust in healthcare. Foundations such as the Wellcome Trust can play a major role in this landscape because they are trusted brands capable of apolitically identifying important challenges from a long-term perspective.

The Wellcome Trust was created in 1937, and it currently has an endowment of £13 billion. The organization distributes £720 million in funding per year, an amount similar to that spent by the Gates Foundation and by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The Wellcome Trust seeks to translate the best ideas from the basic sciences, engineering, and medicine into patient benefits. Its missions range from characterizing neural networks to promoting public dialogue and debate. It supports outstanding researchers and forms partnerships with industry and government. The Trust spends £130 million per year on international activities, and currently supports 3,000 researchers in 50 countries. It has helped create research facilities in India and is working to strengthen African higher education and research institutions. The organization also explores medicine in historical and cultural contexts. Its spirit is similar to that of Marcel Proust, who noted, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in seeking new eyes.”