Kenya, Uganda and 12 others line up for $5m grant
Saturday November 13 2021
The foundation will also support the first cohort of the Calestous Juma Science Leadership Fellowship. FILE PHOTO | COURTESY
Representatives from Kenya and Uganda are among beneficiaries of a $50 million grant from the Bill & Belinda Gates Foundation to support science and innovation.
The Grand Challenges Global Call to Action programme is a 10-year initiative designed to ensure scientists and institutions in 14 selected countries play a central role in shaping the global research and development agenda and in developing solutions that meet the needs of their communities.
Other representatives to be funded are from South Africa, Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Mali, Zimbabwe, Brazil and India.
This year's programme prioritises scientists and supports a balanced representation of women principal investigators and researchers.
At the 2021 Grand Challenges Annual Meeting this past week, the Gates Foundation said the programme will focus on data science — such as mathematical modeling to inform national malaria control programmes, digital health services for pregnant women and innovations to close gaps identified by current programmes for eliminating neglected tropical diseases.
CEO Mark Suzman said the foundation will also launch the Global Immunology and Immune Sequencing for Epidemic Response (GIISER) programme to ensure scientists have capacity to rapidly detect new SARS-CoV-2 variants that show signs of evading immune response.
The foundation will provide $7 million over two years to investigative teams in eight countries (South Africa, Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Brazil and India) to expand their existing immunological capacity.
To further support scientists who are developing innovations to end the Covid-19 pandemic and to address urgent global health priorities, the organisation will also support the first cohort of the Calestous Juma Science Leadership Fellowship, which was launched last year to support the next generation of scientific leaders in Africa. The inaugural cohort will have 14 fellows (eight women and six men) from eight African countries. Each fellow will receive up to $1 million over five years.
The Grand Challenges Annual Meeting is a global forum for researchers around the world to share their work, learn about cutting-edge advances in their field, and collaborate with other investigators and organisations.