4/29/06

African group to get $17 million Gates grant

In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, it is the lack of street signs, addresses and even consistent spelling of family names that poses some of the greatest challenges to scientists seeking to test a new drug or vaccine.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is expected to announce a $17 million grant in support of an African-led initiative working to overcome such obstacles.

Drug companies or other organizations doing clinical research in Africa today typically impose their own monitoring system tailored to fit the needs of a particular study and then dismantle it upon completion.

What's needed, said Dr. Regina Rabinovich, head of the infectious disease program at the Gates Foundation, is an African-run system of clinical research that is permanent and self-sustaining.

To that end, the Seattle philanthropy has given $17 million to a non-profit organization known as the INDEPTH Network, formed by Binka and others in 1998.

[Excerpt of article by Tom Paulson, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

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