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The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed $25
million to Washington State University toward the construction of a
research building that will become the centerpiece in the new
School for Global Animal Health. The new facility will provide
modern research space on the Pullman campus to support global
animal health research. WSU is recognized internationally for
research focused on preventing transmission of animal pathogens.
“You cannot identify a healthy human population in which the
animals are not also healthy,” says Warwick Bayly, dean of WSU’s
College of Veterinary Medicine.
“Humans are inextricably linked to their animals. Solving the
challenge of global poverty is not possible without a focus on
animals.”
The school will focus on three interrelated approaches to global
animal and public health: vaccine development and deployment,
emerging pathogen and disease detection, and control of disease
transmission from animals to humans.
The $35 million state-of-the-art infectious disease research
facility will provide approximately 20,000 square feet of
laboratories, office space, and meeting rooms for 12 to 15 research
scientists and their support staff and graduate students. The Gates
Foundation gift represents the largest single private financial
commitment in WSU history. “The values of WSU’s School for Global
Animal Health are aligned with the mission of the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation, which is guided by the belief that every
life has equal value and that all people should be allowed to lead
healthy, productive lives,” says WSU president Elson Floyd.
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