One of the world’s largest biomedical research charities is setting up a new $330 million initiative to fund high-risk projects — an effort it hopes can help researchers challenge the status quo in the life sciences.
The Wellcome Trust says that it is establishing what it is calling the Leap Fund — an independently run offshoot that will seek out and provide funding for outside-the-box science.
The idea is to support research that is simply not a sure enough bet for more traditional funding bodies, Wellcome’s director, Dr. Jeremy Farrar, told STAT in an interview.
