College of Medicine receives additional funding from Gates Foundation

Hershey, Pa. Penn State College of Medicine announced Wednesday (July 13) that it will receive additional funding through Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative created by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that enables researchers worldwide to test unorthodox ideas that address persistent health and development challenges. Jose A. Stoute, associate professor of medicine and microbiology and immunology, will continue to pursue an innovative global health research project titled "Use of Microwave Frequency as Treatment for Malaria." Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE) funds scientists and researchers worldwide to explore ideas that can break the mold in how we solve persistent global health and development challenges. Stoute's project is one of 12 Grand Challenges Explorations Phase II grants announced this week. "Finding solutions to persistent global health problems is a difficult, lengthy and expensive process. GCE was designed to tap the innovators of the world by providing resources needed to explore bold ideas that are typically too risky to attract funding through other mechanisms," said Chris Wilson, director of Global Health Discovery at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "We're excited to enable further development of novel approaches that can prevent or lessen the burden of diseases that kill or disable millions of the world's most vulnerable." Projects that are receiving additional funding show promise in tackling priority global health issues where solutions do not yet exist.