Gates Foundation has had positive impact on NIH’s global health research, study at Rice U. finds

CONTACT: Franz Brotzen
PHONE: 713-348-6775
E-MAIL: franz.brotzen@rice.edu

A paper by two researchers at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy finds the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has had a significant role in increasing the total amount of resources devoted to research on health in developing countries by encouraging the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand funding in this area as well.

The paper, written by Kirstin Matthews, program manager for the Science and Technology Policy Program at the Baker Institute, and Vivian Ho, the Baker Institute chair in health economics and associate professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, will be published in the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) Reports. The study will be released today (May 1).

The Gates Foundation is the largest charitable foundation in the United States. Its stated goal is to ”reduce inequities and improve lives around the world.”

The Gates Foundation has taken a particular interest in global health issues. In 2003, it launched the Grand Challenges for Global Health (GCGH) initiative, which funneled hundreds of millions of dollars into the NIH over the next several years. That led the NIH to supplement the GCGH with increased funding of about $1 billion for global health issues “at a time when the overall NIH budget experienced little growth,” Matthews and Ho wrote.

“This sudden interest and financial support for global health research at the NIH was largely due to the Gates Foundation,” the authors found, “and its strong outreach to both the scientific community and the public.”

The net result of the Gates Foundation’s involvement, the paper concluded, is to energize the U.S. government’s commitment to improving the health of people around the world. “By reaching out to the press and creating enthusiasm among the scientific community,” Matthews and Ho wrote, “the Gates Foundation has been able to translate their own contribution into a significant increase in federal research in this area.”
Journalists wishing to speak with Matthews or Ho about their report should contact Franz Brotzen at 713-348-6775 or franz.brotzen@rice.edu.