Gates Foundation`s US$100 mln initiative for health research

"The biggest advances in health often come from unexpected places," said Dr. Tachi Yamada, president of the Gates Foundation's Global Health Program.

"To effectively tackle diseases like AIDS and malaria, we need to encourage the best and brightest minds to take risks on novel ideas. Not all will bear fruit, but those that do could revolutionize the field of global health."

Dr. Yamada announced the Explorations initiative today at a meeting of 700 global health researchers held in Cape Town, South Africa. He was joined by the Rev. Desmond Tutu, archbishop emeritus of Cape Town, and Graca Machel, chancellor of the University of Cape Town.