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

($ 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? 

Environmentand animals$8.863.4%

Foundations$21.70 8.3%

Human services

$25.36 9.7%

Internationalaffairs$6.392.5%

Arts, culture, and humanities$13.515.2%

Public-society benefit$14.035.4%

Unallocatedgiving

$16.156.2%

Health $22.548.7%

Religion $93.18 35.8%

Education$38.56 14.8%

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

Funding the Biomedical Research Enterprise

Majority funded 

by industry

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

Total investment 

tripled since 1996

Proportion from 

private, non-profit 

unchanged

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

Translation from 

basic science  to 

human studies

Translation of

new knowledge

into clinical practice

Basic 

Biomedical 

Research

Clinical   Science   and   Knowledge

Block

   1

Block

   2

Goal:        Improved  Health

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?

Basic 

Biomedical 

Research

Clinical   Science   and   Knowledge

Block

   1

Block

   2

Goal:        Improved  Health

NIH

PHARMA

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.

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

History of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund

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

*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
| 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            |

Burroughs Wellcome Fund

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

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

Grantmaking Strategies

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

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

Focus Areas

Competitive Program Matrix
| Eligible applicants                                 |                                       |
|-----------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| Institutions                                        | Postdoctoral fellows                  | UniversityFaculty |  |
| 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 Medicine78:177-186, 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

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

Career Awards in the Medical Sciences (CAMS)

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

Innovation 

Awards in 

Functional 

Genomics

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

Career Awards at the Scientific Interface (CASI)

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)

Career Awards at the Scientific Interface (CASI)

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

Infectious Diseases

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 

Investigators in Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease

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”

Clinical Scientist Awards in Translational Research

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 andLaboratory 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

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

Student Science Enrichment Program (SSEP)

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

Noncompetitive “Complementary” Grants

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

The Selection Process

Application by Nominated Candidates

Review by Scientific Advisory Committee

Initial Scoring Leads to Finalists

Advisory Committee Interviews All Finalists

Recommend Awardees to Board of Directors 

Board Approval 

        - Primarily to degree-granting institutions on behalf of researchers, who must be . . .
        - 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

919-991-5100