Healthcare Funding Opportunities

For a number of years this has been bothering me, so I feel compelled to address it. In today's challenging funding environment, early-stage biotech companies with promising therapeutic assets often struggle to secure the capital needed to advance their programs. Simultaneously, many patient foundations, despite their commitment to discovering new treatments for their communities, continue to restrict grant funding to ONLY academic or medical institutions. I think that this policy is really short sighted and not faithful to the commitment that foundations make to their donors. This policy overlooks the critical reality that translating scientific discoveries into approved treatments requires not only groundbreaking research, but also the practical expertise and experience to navigate the complex drug discovery and development process. Companies experienced in preclinical and clinical development play an essential role in this journey and can provide foundations with both therapeutic advancements and potential returns on their investments. Foundations like the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) have recognized this gap and pioneered a venture philanthropy model. By investing in biotech firms, CFF helped develop transformative therapies like Kalydeco, significantly improving the lives of many with cystic fibrosis. This strategy not only accelerated drug development but also generated substantial returns, enabling further investment in research. Similarly, the CMT Research Foundation (CMTRF) and CureCMT were founded on the principle of funding translational research, actively collaborating with biotech companies to advance treatments for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. By embracing partnerships with experienced industry professionals, foundations can more effectively fulfill their missions. Such collaborations enhance the likelihood of bringing treatments to patients and offer the potential for financial returns that can be reinvested into further research. In these tumultuous times of limited access to capital, it's crucial for patient foundations to align their funding strategies with their stated goals. Supporting programs and professionals with a track record in therapeutic development is not just logical, it's essential for delivering on promises to the communities they serve. If you are a patient foundation focused on developing therapies for your members, consider investing in early-stage companies that may help your patient population and return a multiple of the investment you make in them. Drug discovery and development is expensive, and there are limited avenues for companies to access the capital needed to advance therapies these days. Everyone has their own perspective, and this is mine after many years working in drug discovery and having encountered many walls to industry from patient foundations. #PatientAdvocacy #DrugDevelopment #VenturePhilanthropy #CureCMT #CFF #InnovationInHealthcare

Gavi has published a new report to outline how our partnerships with multilateral development banks including The World Bank, European Investment Bank (EIB), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) unlocks innovative solutions to reach millions more children with life-saving vaccines. With countries’ health systems already straining to meet the demands of their growing populations, the need has never been greater for smart, sustainable investments that deliver benefits to public health and economic stability: https://bit.ly/43I3E8Z

The Global Fund and the Green Climate Fund are exploring an unprecedented partnership to jointly finance climate and health programs in vulnerable countries — a move that could create a new model for funding climate adaptation where it has long struggled to attract investment. The collaboration remains in early stages, but if approved, would mark the first time the two multilateral giants have jointly financed programs. Africa CDC is leading the process of proposal development on behalf of the partnership, and the Planetary Health Axis System, established at Peking University, has offered to provide data analysis through a series of AI tools to help guide interventions. “We put all of the variables in one big pot and let the system figure out what connections appear,” said Dr. Bernhard Schwartländer, distinguished chair professor of planetary health at Peking University Institute for Global Health and Development. The Green Climate Fund has approved an initial grant of nearly $1.6 million through its Project Preparation Facility to support the development of a funding proposal for Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Guinea-Bissau, although both the proposal and funding remain subject to the fund’s approval. But if the proposed project is ultimately approved, it marks the beginning of a really innovative partnership with a lot of potential, said Christoph Benn, executive director of the Center for Global Health Diplomacy. “It’s a different approach,” he said. https://lnkd.in/dz6PFpNa

A Powerful Example Of Influence Turning Into Impact. Podcaster Raj Shamani has announced that 100% of the YouTube revenue generated from his episode featuring Khan Sir will be donated to support a hospital initiative in Patna. But this isn’t just another announcement. It’s a shift in how creators can drive real change. 📊 From Education to Healthcare — A Bigger Mission Khan Sir, known for making education accessible to millions, is now extending that mission into healthcare — one of India’s most critical challenges. The goal? To provide high-quality medical services at prices that even the most underprivileged can afford. The Numbers That Grab Attention: • Blood Test: ₹7 • ECG: ₹25 • X-Ray: ₹35 In a country where even basic diagnostics can be expensive for many, this model challenges the norm. 🚨 But Here’s The Real Conversation: This isn’t just about low pricing. It’s about rethinking access. When creators, educators, and communities collaborate: → Attention turns into funding. → Content turns into impact. → Influence turns into infrastructure. India already has public healthcare systems and schemes, but gaps still exist — especially in accessibility and affordability at scale. Initiatives Like This Highlight An Important Point • Change doesn’t always start from policy. • Sometimes, it starts from people who decide to act. 🔥 If This Model Sustains And Scales, It Could Inspire: • More creator-led philanthropy. • Hybrid healthcare models. • Community-driven infrastructure. Because the future of impact may not just belong to governments or corporations — but to individuals who leverage trust at scale. 🤔 What are your thoughts — Is this a scalable model or a powerful one-off initiative? #HealthcareIndia #SocialImpact #RajShamani #KhanSir #StartupIndia #PublicHealth #DigitalCreators

Today's Inspiration 🌟 Judy Faulkner Pledges 99% of Her $7.8 Billion Fortune — A Legacy Built to Last Generations 🌟 At 82, the Founder of Epic Systems — whose technology supports medical records for over 300 million patients — is making one of the most significant philanthropic commitments in the U.S. She has committed 99% of her $7.8 billion wealth to her foundation, Roots & Wings, ensuring her fortune continues to serve communities long into the future. Here’s where her impact will focus: 💙 Expanding Healthcare Access ➡ Supporting hospitals, clinics, and community care programs ➡ Investing in technology to reach underserved populations 📘 Advancing Education ➡ Scholarships for students from low-income backgrounds ➡ Support for universities and STEM initiatives ➡ Programs to build future-ready skills 🤝 Supporting Vulnerable Families ➡ Food, housing, and childcare assistance ➡ Grants for social welfare organizations ➡ Long-term community development efforts 💡 Why this stands out: • One of the few self-made female tech billionaires globally • A signatory of the The Giving Pledge alongside Bill Gates and Warren Buffett • Ensured Epic remains independent by placing shares in a trust • Driven by her belief: wealth should give others “roots to grow and wings to rise” A powerful reminder: true leadership isn’t just about building success — it’s about creating lasting impact. #Inspiration #Healthcare #Education #Philanthropy #Leadership

Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Indonesia: Global Health Security funding opportunities from US Centers for Disease Control The U.S. CDC has just released seven new Global Health Security funding opportunities for organizations in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Indonesia. Together, these five-year cooperative agreements represent a significant investment in strengthening national public health systems—and, most importantly, they place local leadership at the center. Attached is a summary of these 7 opportunities. You can find each of the 7 country-specific notices in www.grants.gov. For organizations that have long demonstrated their ability to deliver results, this is a chance to move beyond being implementing partners and become lead applicants. The grants focus on priorities that are critical for every country’s health system: strengthening disease surveillance, modernizing laboratories, developing the public health workforce, improving emergency preparedness and response, enhancing health information systems, and building stronger partnerships across sectors. Funding is substantial. Nigeria alone offers up to US$15 million in first-year funding, while Ethiopia and Ghana each offer US$8 million. Tanzania, Indonesia, and Sierra Leone each provide approximately US$3 million, and Senegal offers US$1.5 million. Most opportunities will support projects over five years, providing the stability needed to build sustainable capacity rather than short-term interventions. Moreover, CDC provides 15 bonus points - which add to the maximum of 100 - to consortia led by local organizations. I believe one of the most important messages in these announcements is that local organizations should lead whenever possible. International partnerships remain valuable, but they are strongest when they complement local expertise rather than replace it. Universities, NGOs, research institutions, and technical organizations headquartered in the United States can add tremendous value through specialized expertise in laboratory systems, digital health, workforce development, monitoring and evaluation, implementation science, and grants management. For local organizations considering these opportunities, now is the time to identify strategic partners, strengthen consortiums, and begin proposal development. The application deadlines are in early October 2026, leaving only a short window to prepare competitive submissions.

Most nine-figure gifts to children's hospitals fund a building at one institution. Tom Golisano gave $403 million in 2025 across twelve. In October, he announced $253 million to create the Golisano Children's Alliance, a network of ten pediatric hospitals across the eastern United States. Connecticut Children's, Penn State Health, University of Kentucky, University of Maryland, University of Vermont, and WVU Medicine each received between $25 million and $50 million. By December, he added another $100 million, bringing in Arkansas Children's and Wellstar Children's Hospital of Georgia. Each hospital operates independently, but they share research, training, and best practices through the alliance. Golisano is building the network to eventually reach forty hospitals. The first alliance symposium is scheduled for May 2026. I have seen plenty of major gifts that name a wing. Golisano is funding how pediatric hospitals learn from each other, and that structure will keep working long after the check clears. For more on how philanthropists are reshaping children's health, subscribe to Cause & Capital: https://lnkd.in/gBTgQa4x

A single box of medicines can mean the difference between life and death, between learning in school or missing out, and a day of work or a day of lost income. A new report underscores why continued investment in #malaria is so urgent. Not only for saving lives, but for building strong #economies. According to the report by Malaria No More UK, African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) and Zero Malaria, fully funding the 8th Replenishment of the Global Fund could add $221 billion to Africa’s GDP by 2030 and save millions of lives. We know that strong #partnerships deliver results. To-date, an estimated 1.3 billion people have benefitted from medicines that cure and prevent malaria, medicines developed in partnership between MMV, researchers, and companies committed to beating the disease. The Global Fund has been critical in making these innovations widely available. Equally critical is the role the Global Fund will play in the next 5 years, introducing and scaling up next-generation medicines to accelerate malaria elimination. With full support for the Global Fund and continued investment in R&D and innovation, we can keep delivering lifesaving medicines—and bring malaria closer to history. Read the full report: bit.ly/47heuTY

Scientific progress must be matched by delivery at scale. For two decades, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has shown how to make that possible.     In Global Fund-supported countries, the combined death rate from HIV, TB, and malaria has fallen by 63% since 2002. That progress was possible because Global Fund financing helped countries build the systems that move innovations from lab benches to communities.     Lenacapavir, the twice-yearly injectable for HIV prevention developed by Gilead Sciences, offers the latest opportunity to turn innovation into impact through the Global Fund. The Gates Foundation’s $912 million pledge to the Global Fund will help make this possible—supporting delivery of this, as well as other innovations to address HIV, TB, and malaria. Coupled with our recent investments in generic manufacturing, resources can stretch even further, reaching more people and driving greater impact for every dollar invested.     With renewed support, the Global Fund can deliver the next generation of innovations and keep the world on track to end these deadly infectious diseases. 

This week in Malawi I had the opportunity to spend time with Dalitso Baloyi and the Last Mile Health team reflecting on a partnership The Schooner Foundation has supported since this initiative was first launched three years ago. What is striking now is not only the ambition of the model, but the degree to which it is translating into institutional progress. Malawi remains a country where roughly 84 percent of people live in rural areas, where nearly one quarter of the population still resides beyond reasonable distance to a health facility, and where maternal mortality remains around 224 per 100,000 live births. These are system performance challenges, and Last Mile Health’s approach is deliberately designed to address them at that level. Over the past three years, several signals of real structural progress have emerged. The government owned iCHIS platform has moved from design and pilot phases into district level scale, expanding from three to thirteen districts and now integrated into national campaigns and reporting structures. With Global Fund financing now supporting procurement of approximately 500 devices and in service training for roughly 3,000 community health workers, the digital backbone of community health delivery is becoming institutional rather than experimental. Workforce investments are similarly moving beyond episodic training toward national capability. More than 320 frontline workers have been trained in community based maternal and newborn care, supported by 36 trainers of trainers and over 400 community structure members mobilized to identify and support pregnant and postnatal mothers. These numbers matter not only for coverage but for the emergence of a supervised, data connected delivery platform. Equally important is the financing dimension. Last Mile Health’s support to Malawi’s Community Health Financing Framework and its role in helping secure Global Fund commitments signals a shift from donor funded projects toward government anchored financing pathways. In a moment when global health funding is under severe pressure and fiscal space is tightening across low income countries, this kind of work on financing architecture may prove as consequential as the clinical interventions themselves. For philanthropy, the lesson is clear. Durable improvements in maternal and newborn survival rarely come from standalone service delivery. They come from investments that help governments build coherent delivery platforms where workforce, data, transport, and financing reinforce one another. Very grateful to the Last Mile Health team and their Malawian partners for demonstrating how disciplined partnership with government can translate into measurable progress at the last mile. #LastMileHealth #CommunityHealth #HealthSystems #GlobalHealth #MaternalHealth #HealthFinancing #LocallyLed #Philanthropy #Malawi