# Presentation: 071058

** **

**BWF Programs and Priorities **

**January 23, 2008**
**U.S. Veterans Administration **
**Office of Research and Development**
**Research Cyber Seminar**

**Nancy Sung, Ph.D.**

## Outline

- Funding for Biomedical Research
- About Burroughs Wellcome Fund
- Mission and Strategy
- Award Programs

## TOTAL GIVING, 1965–2005

**Recessions in green:  1969–70; 1973–75; 1980; 1981–82; 1990–91; 2001**

**Inflation-adjusted dollars**

**Current dollars**

- ($ in billions)

- Steep growth 1996-2000

- Source: Giving USA, 2007

## GIVING BY FOUNDATIONS, 1965–2005

- GIVING BY FOUNDATIONS, 1965–2005

- ($ in billions)

**Data: The Foundation Center**

**Current dollars**

**Inflation-adjusted dollars**

- Tripling of foundation giving from 1995-2005
- Number of foundations nearly doubled,
- 	 now over 71,000  (50/week)
- Foundation assets in 2006: over $550 billion
- Foundation payout in 2006: $40.7 billion

## WHERE DID THE $260.28 BILLION GO? 

**Environment****and animals****$8.86****3.4%**

**Foundations****$21.70**** 8.3%**

**Human services**
**$25.36**** 9.7%**

**International****affairs****$6.39****2.5%**

**Arts, culture, ****and humanities****$13.51****5.2%**

**Public-society ****benefit****$14.03****5.4%**

**Unallocated****giving**
**$16.15****6.2%**

**Health ****$22.54****8.7%**

**Religion ****$93.18**** 35.8%**

**Education****$38.56**** 14.8%**

- WHERE DID THE $260.28 BILLION GO?

- Grants for biomedical, translational and clinical research account for about 4% of the total

## Funding the Biomedical Research Enterprise

**Funding the Biomedical Research Enterprise**

- Majority funded
- by industry

**Source: **JAMA 2005; 294:1333-1342; Hamilton Moses, Alerion 2007

**Notes:**
Figure 5: need legend, updated from Moses et al JAMA 2005

## The Two Translational Blocks

- Adapted from IOM Clinical Research Roundtable

- This is not the goal!

- Adapted from IOM Clinical Research Roundtable, 2002

**Notes:**
One issue on which we agreed after our last national meeting came through consideration of the continuum of health research. Many of us have historically funded research that is positioned firmly at the left side of this continuum, however in the last ten years it has become clear that there is a bottleneck that prevents translation of basic discoveries into clinical knowledge.  So many of us began to focus our efforts at this point. Our goalhowever, is not just to reach the point where one of our investigators publishes something in the NEJM– it is for that knowledge to be translated into changed clinical practice and ultimately better health.  There is a recognition that collaboration and integration across this whole spectrum is needed.  So we made a small but philsophically significant change in our name/

## Funding the Health Research Continuum

- Adapted from IOM Clinical Research Roundtable

**AHRQ**

**VHAs: **ACS, AHA, ADA, CFF

**HHMI, DDCF**
**BWF**

**RWJF**

- Health Foundations?

**Notes:**
One issue on which we agreed after our last national meeting came through consideration of the continuum of health research. Many of us have historically funded research that is positioned firmly at the left side of this continuum, however in the last ten years it has become clear that there is a bottleneck that prevents translation of basic discoveries into clinical knowledge.  So many of us began to focus our efforts at this point. Our goalhowever, is not just to reach the point where one of our investigators publishes something in the NEJM– it is for that knowledge to be translated into changed clinical practice and ultimately better health.  There is a recognition that collaboration and integration across this whole spectrum is needed.  So we made a small but philsophically significant change in our name/

## Under what conditions should philanthropy support biomedical research?

- “[Foundations should] concentrate resources on problems that are not being dealt with by governments or for-profit organizations.  Being constrained by neither voters nor shareholders, they can take risks to find pioneering new solutions that can then be adopted on a larger scale by governments or for-profit firms”
- The Business of Giving: A Survey of Wealth and Philanthropy, *The Economist*, 2006.

## Silas Mainville Burroughs (1880 photo) started his career as a pharmaceutical sales representative in Philadelphia and moved to London in 1878 as an agent for a U.S. drug firm.

**Silas Mainville Burroughs (1880 photo) started his career as a pharmaceutical sales representative in Philadelphia and moved to London in 1878 as an agent for a U.S. drug firm.**

**Henry Wellcome enrolled in the Chicago College of Pharmacy in 1872 and finished his education at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, where me met Silas Burroughs.**

## 1955	Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) created as the corporate foundation of the U.S. company
1993 	The Wellcome Trust sells the company and endows BWF with $400 million; Burroughs Wellcome Co. contributes $30 million to give BWF complete independence
2008 Endowment grows to $800 million

- 1993 	The Wellcome Trust sells the company and endows BWF with $400 million; Burroughs Wellcome Co. contributes $30 million to give BWF complete independence
- 2008 Endowment grows to $800 million

**History of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund**

## Top 10 U.S. Foundations Awarding Grants for Medical Research, 2005*

| Foundation | Amount, US $ | No. of Grants |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation | 270,976,718 | 26 |
| The Starr Foundation | 33,075,000 | 14 |
| Burroughs Wellcome Fund  | 25,804,239 | 83 |
| Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute, Inc.  | 20,461,776  | 143 |
| Avon Foundation | 16,216,577 | 16 |
| The Dana Foundation  | 15,506,843 | 50 |
| W.M. Keck Foundation  | 14,970,000 | 16 |
| The Picower Foundation  | 13,198,221 | 8 |
| Eli & Edythe L. Broad Foundation  | 12,689,219 | 45 |
| The Robert A. Welch Foundation  | 10,960,000 | 37 |

- *Based on grants of $10,000 or more awarded by a national sample of 1010 larger U.S. foundations.Source: JAMA 2005; 294:1333-1342

## Burroughs Wellcome Fund

“To advance the biomedical sciences by supporting research and other scientific and educational activities.”

**“****To advance the biomedical sciences by supporting research and other scientific and educational activities.”**

**Notes:**
Our mission                 .......clearly defines our role yet allows for broader reaches in partnering with others as appropriate

## Career development of outstanding young scientists

Development of investigators in targeted areas of science that are undervalued or underfunded

**Development of investigators in targeted areas of science that are undervalued or underfunded**

**Grantmaking Strategies**

**Notes:**
The overview that follows clearly indicates how we are continuing to support programs that follow our grantmaking strategy to ..........

## About BWF. . . 

- Independent private foundation
- Endowment of ~ $800 million
-  Award ~$40 million annually
- in US & Canada
- ~ 85% of our grants are made through competitive peer-reviewed award programs
- Each program has an Advisory Committee
- ~ 15% of our grants are catalytic and adhoc
- ~ Engage in “Terrain” Mapping every five years

**About BWF. .**** ****.**** **

## BWF Board of Directors

**J. Michael Bishop, M.D.**
**	****   **University of California at San Francisco
**Enriqueta C. Bond, Ph.D.  **
- Burroughs Wellcome Fund
**Carlos J. Bustamante, Ph.D. **
- University of California-Berkeley
**Geoff Gerber, Ph.D.**
-      TWIN Capital Management
**Phil Gold, M.D., Ph.D. (chair)****	**
- McGill University**	**
**I. George Miller, M.D.**
- Yale University School of Medicine
** **

**Mary-Lou Pardue, Ph.D.**
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
**Jerome F. Strauss, III, M.D. **
- Virginia Commonwealth University
**Judith Swain, M.D. **
- 	     University of California-San Diego
-  **Philip R. Tracy, Esq.**
- Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan, L.L.P.

##  Basic Medical Sciences
 Interfaces in Science
 Infectious Disease
 Translational Research  (bench to bedside) 
 Science Education
 Population Laboratory-based biological sciences
 Science and Philanthropy

-  Interfaces in Science
-  Infectious Disease
-  Translational Research  (bench to bedside)
-  Science Education
-  Population Laboratory-based biological sciences
-  Science and Philanthropy

**Focus Areas**

## Competitive Program Matrix

|  |  | Eligible applicants |  |  |   |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  | Institutions | Postdoctoral fellows | University
Faculty |   |
| Type of 
science | K-12 education | Student Science Enrichment Program |  |  |   |
|  | Physician scientists |  | Career Awards in the Medical Sciences | Clinical Scientist Awards in Translational Research |  |
|  |  |  |  | 
Investigators in Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease |  |
|  | Infectious disease investigators |  |  |  |   |
|  | Interdisciplinary science | New population/basic science program | Career Awards at the Scientific Interface |  |   |

## Biomedical Sciences

**Hitchings Elion Fellowship**

**Wellcome Research Travel Grants**

- 1978

**Evaluation:**
- Annual Advisory Committee reviews
- _Academic Medicine__78:_177-186, 2003Comparative MS Complete

**Career Development:**
- Awardee Conferences
- Informal Awardee Updates
- Lab Management CourseHelp with Individual IssuesLab Manual
- Career Development Pieces on website

**Field Development:**
- Professional Society Support
- Support for outside studies and Initiatives
- Preterm Birth Initiative

**Training Programs:**
- Frontiers in Reproduction
- AAOGF
- RSDP

- 1992

- 1995

- 2007

**Career Awards at the**
**Biomedical Sciences**

**Career Awards for**
**Medical Scientists**

- 2006

- 1999

## Basic Medical Sciences

**Basic Medical Sciences**

- Target	D.D.S., D.V.M., M.D., or M.D.-Ph.D. degreeWorking in any basic biomedical science, with not more than 120 months past most recent doctorateDisease-oriented, translational or molecular, genetic or pharmacological epidemiology research

- Amount	$700,000 over five years

- Deadline	October 1

- Goal	To bridge advanced postdoctoral training, or fellowship & the first years of faculty service

## Interfaces in Science:Physical/mathematical/computational science and biology

- Institutional Awards at the
- Scientific Interface (IASI)

- 1996                                2000      2001                                         2008

**Career Awards at the **
**Scientific Interface (CASI)**

- Evaluation:
- Progress report review
- 2003: *Science* 301:1485
- 2007: Trainee Outcomes project

- Career Development:
- Lab management course
- Faculty offer analysis
- Awardee convening events

- Field Development:
- “Bridging the Sciences” initiative
- Support for professional societies
- Disseminating experience at NIH, NSF,
- HHMI, NAS

- Training Programs:
- MBL Modeling Course
- MBL Physiology Course
- KITP Programs

## Interfaces in Science

- Target	- Ph.D. degree in physical/mathematical/
- 	  computational sciences
- 	- Working to address biological questions
- 	- With at least 12 months, but not more than 48 months
-                             of postdoctoral training

- Amount	$500,000 over five years

- Deadline	April 15

- Goal	To bridge advanced postdoctoral training & the first years of faculty service

## Interfaces in Science

- U.S. or Canadian citizens or
- permanent residents

- Foreign scientists who present evidence that
- lawful immigration status has been granted
- & will extend through award duration

- Eligibility Exception

- (only one such nominee per institution)

## Infectious Diseases

- BWF/WT Joint program

- Scholars in Molecular Parasitology

**Field Development:**
- Woods Hole Parasitology courseSocietiesWoods Hole MycologyIOM Microbial Threats ForumNIAID Fungal WorkshopsSupport for small meetings

- Investigators in
- Pathogenesis of

- BWF/ASTMHID Fellowships

**Field Development:**
- Aspergillus genomesC.albicans genomeCryptococcus genomePlasmoDBTri-tryps genomesMalaria genomesMalaria Next StepsNew tools for work on Metazoan Parasites

**Career Development:**
- Communicating ScienceGrant writing courseNetwork BuildingAwardee Meetings
- Lab Management Book
- International Lab Management Book

- 1981

- 1990

- 1995

- 1999

- 2000

- 2005

- New Investigators in Molecular Parasitology

- Scholars in Mycology

- New Investigatorsin Mycology

## Infectious Disease

- Target	- M.D. or Ph.D.
- 	- Assistant Professor with record of
- 	  independent research

- Amount	$500,000 over five years

- Deadline	November 1

- Goal	To provide new opportunities for accomplished investigators at the Asst. Professor level to study pathogenesis

## TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH

- Scholar Awards
- in
- Experimental
- Therapeutics

**Clinical Scientist Awards in **
**Translational Research**

- Field Development:
- IOM Clinical Research Roundtable, Drug Forum
- Other IOM, AAMC studies
- Support for professional societies
- Clinical research ethics, conflict of interest
- Health Research Alliance

- Career Development:
- Awardee/trainee convening events
- AAMC, APM initiatives on clinical investigator career track
- Drug Development course
- AAAS website for physician scientists

- 1997							2007

## Translational Research

- Target	- M.D. or M.D.-Ph.D. degree
- 	- late Assistant Professor or
- 	  early Associate Professor

- Amount	$750,000 over five years

- Deadline	October 1

- Goal	To foster the development of established independent physician-scientists
- 	whose work bridges gap between
- 	“bench and bedside”

## PHYSICIAN SCIENTISTS AT BWF

- Career Awards
-  in the
- Medical Sciences

**Clinical Scientist Awards in **
**Translational Research**

- Field Development:
- IOM Clinical Research Roundtable, Drug Forum
- Other IOM, AAMC studies
- Support for professional societies
- Clinical research ethics, conflict of interest
- Health Research Alliance

- Career Development:
- Awardee/trainee convening events
- AAMC, APM initiatives on clinical investigator career track
- Lab management course
- AAAS website for physician scientists

- Postdocs             Early faculty           Mid career faculty

**Investigators in Pathogenesis **
**of Infectious Disease**

- Externally managed programs:
- ASTMH fellowships
- ACOG/ AAOGF fellowships
- MBL courses

## Bridges between the Population andLaboratory based Sciences

**Field Development:**
- EpidemiologyEconometricsComputer ModelingEvolutionary BiologyPublic Health and more!

- Bridges between the Population and Laboratory based Sciences

**Field Development:**
- Advanced CoursesSocietiesAwardee Trainee GatheringsNetworking with existing BWF familySupport for small meetings

**Field Development:**
- Trainee movement across institutionsProgram EvaluationCrosstalk with non-biological fields

## Population Sciences

- Target	Degree-granting institutions in the US and Canada

- Amount	$500,000 per year for five years

- Institutional Program Unifying Population
- and Laboratory-based Sciences

- Deadline	Letter of intent: March 3
- 	Full application (invitation only) May 15

- Goal	The programs supported by these awards will develop young researchers who will be equally at home with the ideas, approaches, and insights generated at the molecular scale and at the population scale.

## BWF Science Education North Carolina Program

- BWF Science Education North Carolina Program

**UNC Fast Track**

_**Student Enrichment**_

_**Public Policy**_

**NC Network of Education Funders**

_**Convene Awardees**_
**Evaluation Workshops**
**Sustainability Workshops**
**Proposal Writing**

**NC Grassroots Museum Collaborative**

**NC School of Science and Math Education Future Center**

_**Institutional Capacity**_

_**Partnership Building**_

**K-12 Outreach **
**Conference**

**NC SMT Education Center**

_**Teacher Development**_

**NSRC LASER**

- 1996

- 2007

**Student Science Enrichment Program**

**Institute for Educational Policymakers**

## Science Education

- Target	non-profit organizations in North Carolina

- Amount	Up to $180,000 over three years

- Deadline	April 10

- Goal	To support creative inquiry-based science enrichment activities for elementary, middle and high school students

## Science & Philanthropy

- Target	Non-profit organizations

- Amount	Varies

- Deadline	Received all year

- Goal	To support activities that are closely related to our targeted areas and
- 	are intended to improve the general environment for science

## Award Programs

- Grants Awarded* by Focus Area: FY 2006

***Millions of dollars**

**Total Grants Awarded $39.6 M**

- Is this how it works?

## Info for Applicants

**Info for Applicants**

- The Selection Process

- Application by Nominated Candidates

## Info for Applicants

- Secondarily to non-profit organizations conducting activities to improve the environment for science

- Grants are made . . .

**Info for Applicants**

- Nominated by their institution

- Citizens or permanent residents of the US or Canada *

- * An exception is made for one program

- _[www.bwfund.org](http://www.bwfund.org/)_
- 919-991-5100