[opensourcepharma] WSJ Op-ed from the Broad

[Matthew Todd]

Following the $650M donation to the Broad Institute here last week, two of
the leadership wrote this piece in the Wall Street Journal singing the
praises of philanthropy as a source of funding for biomedical research.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/eric-lander-and-louis-gerstner-private-money-pays-off-for-medicine-1407710070

"The NIH's $30 billion annual investment is an indispensable driver of
medical progress, and the 20% inflation-adjusted decline in its budget over
the past decade is a travesty. Yet private philanthropy is also critical.
Successful entrepreneurs are better suited for big bets on bold ideas and
personal hunches. Private funding lets creative scientists pursue projects
that their peers might view as too risky. Individual donors will surely
influence scientific directions. But the best way forward is to have the
broadest pool of donors with the widest range of passions.

Some gambles won't pan out. But some will be transformative, speeding
progress by a decade."



-- 
MATTHEW TODD | Associate Professor
School of Chemistry | Faculty of Science

THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY
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E matthew.todd at sydney.edu.au | W
http://sydney.edu.au/science/chemistry/research/todd.html | W
http://opensourcemalaria.org/

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