The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has contributed $12 million to work by the Scripps Research Institute to improve flu and malaria vaccines.
With the funding, the Scripps team will expand their studies of antibodies that can neutralize many strains of malaria and influenza. Past studies have shown these “broadly neutralizing antibodies” have potential to also fight AIDS and other diseases.
The World Health Organization estimates that malaria killed 445,000 people in 2016, the last year when data was reported. Influenza also remains a global killer—up to 650,000 people die each year from seasonal flu.
The grant will be administered by Ian Wilson, a professor of structural biology who has studied influenza since 1977.
“We want to apply the methodologies and expertise that we have accumulated over many years at TSRI for HIV and other pathogens to investigate malaria and help design a more effective and longer lasting flu vaccine,” said Wilson.
