The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced Friday that it chose to donate $50 million to Stanford University to fast-track vaccine development for the world's deadliest diseases.
Over 10 years, the grant will support the efforts of the Stanford Human Systems Immunology Center on researching for vaccines to combat various diseases, including HIV and malaria, Reuters reported.
"While illnesses like polio and measles are now readily preventable, scientists have been stymied in their efforts to fight diseases such as HIV and malaria," according to the statement.
The center has struggled in the past due to cost and time issues, so receiving the $50 million grant will surely aid them in moving forward on their research projects. Aside from vaccine developments, they will also distribute some of the funds to research aimed at helping scientists understand why some people can ward off pathogens better than others, according to CBS Local.
"What we need is a new generation of vaccines and new approaches to vaccination," said Mark Davis, a professor at Stanford's School of Medicine, who will lead the new center.
"This will require a better understanding of the human immune response and clearer predictions about vaccine efficacy for particular diseases," he said in the statement.
The Gates Foundation was founded by the husband and wife Bill and Melinda in 2000 to provide assistance to healthcare and reduce poverty globally. In the United States, the foundation has given grants to several universities for educational opportunities and access to information technology. Some of the recipients include Cornell University, Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Austin, and other schools.
