Global Grand Challenges
The Problem
For the developing world, one of the most urgent barriers to improved health outcomes is a lack of discovery research targeted at their unique health needs and challenges. For too long, their needs were largely ignored by the scientific, industrial and development bodies in the developed world while the developing world has lacked the scientific capability, institutional framework and financial capability to pursue the necessary discovery research to begin to address its own needs. Even when locally-generated solutions could meet the health needs of populations in the developing world, the high cost of these products effectively made them inaccessible to billions of the world’s poor.
This is now changing. In a bold and far-reaching response to this challenge, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation set out in 2003 to identify a set of "grand challenges" in global health. These grand challenges were the significant scientific bottlenecks that stood in the way of the solutions to important global health challenges such as malaria and other infectious diseases. Dr. Peter Singer and Dr. Abdallah Daar from the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health played a significant role in helping to identify these grand challenges. Based on this research, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation next created the Grand Challenges in Global Health program to fund world-leading scientific teams to pursue the discovery and development of breakthrough technologies to address these challenges.
Having participated and/or played a lead role in this initiative, the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health recognized it could play an important ongoing role in developing new models to fund research focused on those challenges identified through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation process and through other subsequent grand challenges identification initiatives. This was the driving force behind the creation of the Global Grand Challenges pillar.
How are we tackling the problem?
The Global Grand Challenges pillar is currently focusing on two innovative global health models:
1. Grand Challenges Canada/Grand Défis Canada, which will deliver the Development Innovation Fund, to support the best minds in the world as they search for breakthroughs in global health, and
2. The Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases to implement research projects to address the Grand Challenges in Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases.
Grand Challenges Canada/Grand Défis Canada
Building on its unique experiences in helping to develop the Grand Challenges in Global Health, the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health incorporated Grand Challenges Canada/Grand Défis Canada, an independent not-for profit organization that will be hosted at the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health. Grand Challenges Canada/Grand Défis Canada will work within a consortium which includes Canada’s International Development Research Centre – a Canadian Crown corporation – and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research – a Government of Canada agency – to deliver the Development Innovation Fund for Canada.
The Development Innovation Fund was created by the Government of Canada in Budget 2008 to:
"Support the best minds in the world as they search for breakthroughs in global health and other areas that have the potential to bring about enduring changes in the lives of millions of people in poor countries."
From an initial budget commitment of $45M CAD, the Development Innovation Fund has grown to provide an annual investment of $45M CAD for 5 years for a total investment of $225M CAD, subject to appropriation by Parliament. The initial activities of the Development Innovation Fund will be in global health.
The idea of creating a vehicle for Canada to fund research on breakthrough science using a grand challenges approach was first introduced in 2005 by Dr. Peter A. Singer who published two editorials in the National Post calling for Canada to begin to develop its own Grand Challenges program.
The vision of Grand Challenges Canada/Grand Défis Canada is to develop a consortium of world-leading Canadian and International scientists, research organizations, and leaders from the business sector, including strong representation from the developing world, to discover and commercialize breakthrough solutions to global health challenges and to ensure that these solutions are available to those who need them the most.
Its mission of Grand Challenges Canada/Grand Défis Canada is to identify global grand challenges, fund a global community of researchers and related institutions on a competitive basis, and support the social, business and institutional arrangements for the effective diffusion implementation / commercialization of the solutions that emerge.
For more information please visit the Grand Challenges Canada website at (www.grandchallenges.ca)
The Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases
The McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health also recognized that it had to move beyond the identification of Grand Challenges in chronic non-communicable diseases and to develop a delivery model to attack and overcome these challenges.
A study was undertaken in 2007, led by Dr. Abdallah S. Daar, to identify Grand Challenges in Chronic Non-communicable Diseases. The purpose of this study was to identify a subset of the larger challenges identified earlier by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This process, similar to that which was undertaken by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, identified a set of critical bottlenecks in addressing chronic non-communicable disorders that have reached epidemic proportions in both the developed and developing worlds. These chronic non-communicable diseases include cardiovascular disease, diabetes and mental diseases. Mental health is a key element, addressing not only depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder but also alcohol and substance abuse and nervous system disorders such as dementia and epilepsy.
Drawing from these findings, Dr. Daar helped to establish the Grand Challenges Global Partnership, a commitment from six major national research funding agencies representing 80% of the world’s health research funding, to create a coordinating body for research-funding organizations in order to harmonize their efforts in the hopes of: expanding the partnership, forging collaborative research opportunities, and monitoring progress towards meeting the twenty Grand Challenges in Chronic Non-communicable Diseases. This Grand Challenges Global Partnership, in turn, became the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases, which is based at Canada’s International Development Research Centre.
What have we accomplished?
Grand Challenges Canada/Grand Défis Canada
As outlined earlier, the Development Innovation Fund will be delivered by Grand Challenges Canada/Grand Défis Canada. Over the past two years, the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health has provided the support and human resources necessary for Grand Challenges Canada to move from concept to reality. In particular, it has provided the expertise and human resources to:
-
Negotiate the funding agreement to transfer the Development Innovation Fund funds from the International Development Research Centre to Grand Challenges Canada.
-
Identify and recruit an impressive Board of Directors, executive staff and international Scientific Advisory Board
-
Establish the physical and policy infrastructure to launch operations.
Grand Challenges Canada/Grand Défis Canada is governed by a Board of Directors chaired by Mr. Joseph L. Rotman. Dr. Peter A. Singer is the founding Chief Executive Officer of Grand Challenges Canada, Dr. Abdallah S. Daar is the founding Chief Science and Ethics Officer and Chair of Grand Challenges Canada’s international Scientific Advisory Board and Andrew D. Taylor is the Executive Vice-President of Grand Challenges Canada.
Grand Challenges Canada/Grand Défis Canada will bring to scale discovery science from inside a country’s international assistance budget. It represents a significant institutional innovation - an outside of government delivery vehicle for official development assistance that works in collaboration with the government through its consortium members. The Grand Challenges Canada/Grand Défis Canada consortium is a unique effort that aims to demonstrate Canada’s commitment to innovation and global health, in particular, and innovation and international development, more generally.
The Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases
Dr. Abdallah S. Daar has played a critical role in leading and catalyzing the formation of the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases. The Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases is a global first, an alliance of major national research funding agencies representing 80% of all public health research funding working together to identify common approaches to develop the evidence base needed to guide policy and develop and share best practices for fighting chronic diseases. Its ultimate goal is to foster a sustainable and significant reduction in illness, disability and death around the world.
The Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases was launched on 15 June, 2009 in Seattle, Washington. Member agencies include: 1. Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council; 2. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research; 3. The Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences; 4. The U.K. Medical Research Council; 5. The U.S. National Institutes of Health, specifically its National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the Fogarty International Center; 6. The Indian Council of Medical Research; 7. The South African Medical Research Council; and 8. The Qatar Biomedical Research Council. The World Health Organization has been invited to participate in an advisory role. The Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases is hosted at Canada’s International Development Research Centre. Dr. Abdallah S. Daar is the inaugural board chair.
What are the next steps?
Grand Challenges Canada/Grand Défis Canada
Grand Challenges Canada/Grand Défis Canada was be launched in May 2010 and hosted at the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health. Grand Challenges Canada/Grand Défis Canada’s goal is to launch five Grand Challenge programs in global health over a 7 year time period. It is proposed that the first of these Grand Challenge programs will be on point-of-care diagnostics, in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Future programs could focus on areas of global health that are particularly relevant to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and/or to neglected areas of research like chronic non-communicable disease.
Grand Challenges Canada/Grand Défis Canada could serve as a model for other countries on how to bring science into the international assistance budget. Grand Challenges Canada/Grand Défis Canada will possibly partner with development institutions in other countries on specific grand challenges. Thus, it has the potential not only to change Canada’s approach to international development, but also that of other G8 or G20 countries.
The Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases
In 2009, the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases announced its first targets for concerted action: lowering hypertension, reducing tobacco use, and reducing the pollution caused by crude cooking stoves in developing countries. Dr. Abdallah S. Daar will continue to serve as the chair of the Board for a term of 2 years (renewable) effective November 2009 and will help to guide the continued development of this important new global organization. 9
The secretariat for the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases will be located at the International Development Research Centre’s offices in Ottawa, Canada. The McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health (and Grand Challenges Canada/Grand Défis Canada) will benefit from Dr. Abdallah S. Daar’s involvement, particularly in identifying future priorities for investment - especially in cardiovascular health and mental health. For example, Dr. Abdallah S. Daar, under the aegis of the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases, has envisioned and is now leading a study to identify the Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health, in collaboration with the NIH National Institute of Mental Health and the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. This is the largest such study that has ever been undertaken. It has significance for future McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health and Development Innovation Fund priorities, as it could have a significant impact in building and solidifying the brand of the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health and in establishing it as a leader in addressing major challenges in global health.
Key Publications
This letter announces the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (GACD), the first of its kind among government health research councils, and outlines its research plan and priorities:
Daar AS, Nabel EG, Pramming SK, Anderson W, Beaudet A, Liu D, Katoch VM, Borysiewicz LK, Glass RI, and Bell J (2009). "The Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases." Science Vol 26. No. 324 pp. 1642-1644.
This paper identifies the Grand Challenges in chronic non-communicable diseases with the intent of reducing the global epidemic of these diseases by making the case for worldwide debate, support and funding, and by guiding policy and research in an evidence-based manner:
Peter A. Singer calls for a Canadian Grand Challenges initiative- beginning with a Grand Challenge on the use of nanotechnology to address bacterial and toxic contamination of water:
Singer, PA. Think small. National Post. 9 November, 2005.
Peter A. Singer writes an open letter to Bono in the National Post regarding PM Paul Martin's pledge to devote a percentage of Canada's research-and-development spending to challenges facing the developing world. Peter proposes implementing the PM’s 5% target through a Canadian Grand Challenges Program: