Will a poor economy spur collaboration?

2009-05-12T06:51:00.000-07:00

Here's the dirty little secret about non-profit research foundations - they are in competition with each other. They compete when raising money, for funding the best research, and for claiming credit for their good deeds. In this poor economy, there's less money being contributed to foundations while the government is pumping billions into disease research - threatening to marginalize the value of research foundations. Some large foundations I've spoken to have gone so far as to halt all funding this year and many have seen their contributions or value of their trusts reduced by 30% or more.

Foundations may not have a financial obligation to collaborate, but they have a social obligation.

So how are foundations going to stay relevant in this economy? By working with their competitors. If foundations share their funding portfolios, they can perform analysis of their funding versus their competitor's portfolios. Foundations must work together to spend their money in a systemic, coordinated manner that pushes forward discoveries that benefit the community, not individual agendas.

ResearchCrossroads.org contains what I believe is the largest collection of private disease research funding in the world. It's open, accessible, and free to the non-profit community. If foundations contribute their data, everyone benefits by raising the visibility of funded research.

Some foundations are going further, creating 'research portals' where foundations funding similar research are creating communities for their funded researchers. These efforts provide a mechanism for data sharing, but the foundations must be committed and willing to open their funded research to their competitors. It's a start, if this poor economy forces foundations to collaborate - our kids and grand kids will be better off.

Sharing research for a cure

2009-05-11T10:46:00.000-07:00

Over $30 billion is spent annually on disease research in the US alone. This is more than all pharmaceutical companies spend on R&D combined! Yet there is no method or infrastructure for these organizations to share research, or even identify who is funding what research. This results in duplication of efforts and slows discovery.

I'm the founder of Innolyst - a company focused on providing infrastructure and mechanisms for publicly funded research organizations to share data, compare findings, and push forward discovery efforts. We work with many of the largest non-profit foundations in the US and have visibility into their research and funding programs. Through this blog, I hope to provide insight into this largely misunderstood portion of the healthcare sector in order to illuminate the issues faced by researchers, patients, and funding organizations.

I have opinions and am not afraid to call it like I see it. There are foundations that are doing great work and are sharing extensively, and others ... not so much. I will not use the names of specific organizations in my posts to protect the innocent, but I will not pull any punches. At the end of the day, people are suffering from some terrible diseases. We can never forget who the 'customers' are ... the patients and families suffering from disease.

Collaborative Intelligence in Public Research

Will a poor economy spur collaboration?

Sharing research for a cure