Charity foundation expects innovative ideas from Chinese talents

BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhua) -- A senior official with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Tuesday called for Chinese talents to contribute more innovative ideas to improve human health globally.

Tachi Yamada, president of the foundation's Global Health Program, urged Chinese talents to join the foundation's Grand Challenge Explorations, a program focused on creating breakthroughs to issues that hampers the endeavor of global health improvement.

The Grand Challenge Explorations is a five-year project initiated in 2008 with 100 million U.S. dollars of investment. It was aimed to collect innovative ideas to help improve human health.

The current selection will focus on four aspects, including the methods for preventing infectious diseases, new technologies for contraception and the mucosal immunity of mucous membrane.

The current application for the project started from Sept. 2 and will last until Nov. 2.

Scientists from all countries who can offer a new perspective on the fight against global diseases are encouraged to apply for the project, which awards 100,000 U.S. dollars, according to the foundation Web site.

Selection for winners of the Grand Challenge Explorations is carried out twice a year. An independent expert team will be invited to select 60 innovative ideas in each round of selection.

"Innovation is the only standard for the selection," said TachiYamada.

For example, in a research plan that won the foundation's support, research staff tried to use mosquitoes as a "flying inoculator" to help plant vaccine.

Four innovative ideas by Chinese researchers have won the foundation awards so far, each getting 100,000 U.S. dollars for further research, according to Tachi Yamada.

The result of the selection will be announced four months after the completion of the application procedure.

"We will also give an extra 1 million U.S. dollars to potential ideas to support further research, " he said.