NPR Examines Support From Gates Foundation for Seattle-Based Global Health Groups

NPR's "All Things Considered" on Monday examined how funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has contributed to research on global HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis by a number of corporations and not-for-profit organizations based in Seattle, where the Gates Foundation has its headquarters. The city, which has long been a seat of research dedicated to global health, is home to organizations such as the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, PATH and Micronics. The budget for PATH -- which is collaborating with Micronics and the University of Washington for a diagnostics project funded by the Gates Foundation -- has quadrupled during the last six years, in large part because of contributions from the Gates Foundation, NPR reports. The segment includes comments from Jack Faris, president of the Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association; Christopher Elias, president of PATH; and Karen Hedine, CEO of Micronics (Kaufman, "All Things Considered," NPR, 3/19). Audio of the segment is available online.