Organization:Grand Challenges Canada

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Short description: Canadian nonprofit organization
Grand Challenges Canada
Grand Challenges Canada Logo.png
Formation2010; 14 years ago (2010)
TypeNonprofit organization
PurposeGlobal health, healthcare, international development
HeadquartersToronto, Ontario, Canada
Area served
Worldwide
MethodGrants
Venture capital
Impact investing
Key people
Jocelyn Mackie, co-CEO

Karlee Silver, co-CEO

Guylaine Saucier, Chair, Board of Directors
Joseph Rotman, founding chairperson
Websitegrandchallenges.ca

Grand Challenges Canada (GCC) is a Canadian nonprofit organization that uses a Grand Challenges model to fund solutions to critical health and development challenges in the developing world.[1][2][3]

The organization has supported over 1,000 projects in more than 80 countries,[4] impacting 1.3 million people.[5] Conservative statistical projections suggest its activities will save up to 1.6 million lives and improve up to 42 million lives by 2030.[5]

It is funded primarily by the Government of Canada and hosted in the MaRS Discovery District[6] by the University Health Network in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[7]

History

Grand Challenges Canada was based on the Grand Challenges in Global Health model of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.[8][9] Peter A. Singer, CEO of Grand Challenges Canada, and Dr. Abdallah Daar, Chair of Grand Challenges Canada's Scientific Advisory Board, sat on the scientific board.[10][11]

In 2007, Singer wrote an op-ed in the National Post that made the argument for a parallel organization based in Canada.[12] This drew the attention of the Canadian government, leading to the creation of Grand Challenges Canada.[13]

The organization was founded with CAD$225 million over 5 years from the 2008 Canadian federal budget to "support breakthrough research that addresses critical global health problems to bring lasting improvements to the health and lives of people in low-income countries."[14][15][8] The 2008 Budget created the Development Innovation Fund, managed by a consortium comprising Grand Challenges Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the International Development Research Centre.[16]

In June 2015, Global Affairs Canada announced an additional CAD$161 million in funding for the organization over 10 years through the government's Muskoka Initiative on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.[17][18]

Innovations supported by Grand Challenges Canada include the Odon device,[19] the Lucky iron fish,[20] the Ovillanta,[21] a Doppler fetal monitor that operates without electricity,[22] a cheap and functional artificial knee joint,[23] a sterile cover for hardware-store drills that transforms them into surgical instruments,[24] a flocked swab to improve diarrhea diagnosis,[25] a $5 safe birth toolkit,[26] a 3-D printed, low-cost prosthetic hand,[27] and a self-propelled powder to stop bleeding.[28]

Programs

Grand Challenges Canada supports a number of global health programs and initiatives:

  • "Stars in Global Health", which provides seed funding for solutions to global health problems.[29] Recipients of this award include Evelyn Gitau.[30]
  • "Saving Lives at Birth", which identifies and scales up prevention and treatment approaches for pregnant women and newborns around birth. Saving Lives at Birth is a partnership of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Government of Norway, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).[31]
  • "Saving Brains", which supports protecting and nurturing early brain development to provide a long-term exit strategy from poverty. Saving Brains is a partnership of Grand Challenges Canada, Aga Khan Foundation Canada, Bernard van Leer Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The ELMA Foundation, Grand Challenges Ethiopia, Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal Foundation, Palix Foundation, UBS Optimus Foundation and World Vision Canada.[32]
  • "Global Mental Health", which supports models to expand the access to care and effectiveness of services to improve mental health.[33] Through Grand Challenges Canada's Global Mental Health program, the Government of Canada is funding the world's largest body of global mental health research projects.[34][35]
  • "Transition To Scale", which brings innovations from the proof-of-concept stage to scale using venture philanthropy and impact investing models. The program supports ideas that achieved proof of concept through Grand Challenges Canada's pipeline or through the pipeline of its partners, such as the Skoll Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.[36]
  • Grand Challenges Canada is an anchor investor in the Global Health Investment Fund, a US$108 million fund that allows investors to finance late-stage global health technologies.[37] Other investors and partners include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, JPMorgan Chase, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, the International Finance Corporation, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Pfizer, the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, AXA, and Storebrand.[38]
  • Grand Challenges Canada hosts the Every Woman Every Child (EWEC) Innovation Marketplace, launched in September 2015 under the United Nations Every Woman Every Child movement and the Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health. The Marketplace brokers transition to scale investments in reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health.[39]
  • Grand Challenges Canada launched Creating Hope in Conflict: A Humanitarian Grand Challenge in February 2018 with funding from USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID), and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Humanitarian Grand Challenge seeks to fund innovations that address those most affected by armed conflict or humanitarian crises. The first grand challenge identified 23 finalists for awards up to US$250,000 each.[40]

Governance

Grand Challenges Canada is governed by a Board of Directors and is guided by a Scientific Advisory Board.[41]

References

  1. ↑ "Renaissance man Joseph Rotman was a patron of education". The Globe and Mail. January 27, 2015. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/joseph-rotman-toronto-businessman-and-philanthropist-dies-at-80/article22652471/. 
  2. ↑ "Grand Challenges Canada Launched". Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. May 2, 2010. https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/announcement/grand-challenges-canada-launched. 
  3. ↑ "A Platform for Innovation: 2016-2017 Annual Report". Grand Challenges Canada. May 2, 2010. http://www.grandchallenges.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Annual_Report_2017_EN_Web.pdf. 
  4. ↑ "Toronto-based firm helps develop medical innovations". Toronto Sun. June 20, 2015. http://www.torontosun.com/2015/06/20/toronto-based-firm-helps-develop-medical-innovations. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Grandmother power in Canada's global aid". BBC. July 19, 2017. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-40597542. 
  6. ↑ "Grand Challenges Canada". MaRS Discovery District. https://www.marsdd.com/ventures-and-tenants/grand-challenges-canada/. 
  7. ↑ "McLaughlin-Rotman Centre up for "Grand Challenge"". University Health Network. May 3, 2010. http://www.uhn.ca/corporate/News/Pages/McLaughlin_Rotman_centre_challenge.aspx. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Grand Challenges Canada Launched". Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. May 2, 2010. https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/announcement/grand-challenges-canada-launched. 
  9. ↑ Varmus, H.; Klausner, R.; Zerhouni, E.; Acharya, T.; Daar, A. S.; Singer, P. A. (October 17, 2003). "Grand Challenges in Global Health". Science (Science Magazine) 302 (5644): 398–399. doi:10.1126/science.1091769. PMID 14563993. 
  10. ↑ "Grandmother power in Canada's global aid". BBC. July 19, 2017. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-40597542. 
  11. ↑ "Grandest Challenge: The Toronto-born crusade to cure the world's sick". Toronto Star. September 23, 2011. https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2011/09/23/grandest_challenge_the_torontoborn_crusade_to_cure_the_worlds_sick.html. 
  12. ↑ "Think Small". National Post. November 9, 2005. https://www.pressreader.com/canada/national-post-latest-edition/20051109/281870113838344. 
  13. ↑ "Grandmother power in Canada's global aid". BBC. July 19, 2017. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-40597542. 
  14. ↑ "Inventor uses stinky socks to fight malaria". Postmedia Network. July 13, 2011. http://www.canada.com/health/Inventor+uses+stinky+socks+fight+malaria/5095013/story.html. 
  15. ↑ "The Budget Plan 2008: Responsible Leadership". Government of Canada. February 26, 2008. http://www.budget.gc.ca/2008/pdf/plan-eng.pdf. 
  16. ↑ "Development Innovation Fund for Global Health Research". International Development Research Centre. 30 April 2019. https://www.idrc.ca/en/project/development-innovation-fund-global-health-research. 
  17. ↑ "Toronto-based firm helps develop medical innovations". Toronto Sun. June 20, 2015. http://www.torontosun.com/2015/06/20/toronto-based-firm-helps-develop-medical-innovations. 
  18. ↑ "Canada Partners with Grand Challenges Canada to Save the Lives of Mothers and Children Through Health Innovation". Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada. June 12, 2015. https://www.canada.ca/en/news/archive/2015/06/canada-partners-grand-challenges-canada-save-lives-mothers-children-through-health-innovation.html?=undefined&wbdisable=true. 
  19. ↑ "Car Mechanic Dreams Up a Tool to Ease Births". New York Times. November 13, 2013. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/14/health/new-tool-to-ease-difficult-births-a-plastic-bag.html?mcubz=0. 
  20. ↑ "5 made-in-Canada ideas helping women and babies around the world". Global News. May 22, 2014. http://globalnews.ca/news/1345142/5-made-in-canada-ideas-helping-women-and-babies-around-the-world/. 
  21. ↑ "Canadian researcher's mosquito trap offers hope in fight against Zika spread". The Globe and Mail. April 8, 2016. https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canadian-researchers-mosquito-trap-offers-hope-in-fight-against-zika/article29569918/. 
  22. ↑ "$2 million in grants for bright ideas that help save lives". Toronto Star. July 1, 2011. https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2011/07/01/2_million_in_grants_for_bright_ideas_that_help_save_lives.html. 
  23. ↑ "Toronto scientist develops artificial leg that costs just $50". Toronto Star. February 9, 2012. https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2012/02/09/toronto_scientist_develops_artificial_leg_that_costs_just_50.html. 
  24. ↑ "Cover Lets Household Drills Be Used in Surgery". New York Times. August 2, 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/02/health/cover-lets-household-drills-be-used-in-surgery.html?mcubz=0. 
  25. ↑ "'Flocked swabs' may be key to treating diarrheal diseases in developing countries". Toronto Star. May 25, 2015. https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2015/05/25/flocked-swabs-may-be-key-to-treating-diarrheal-diseases-in-developing-countries.html. 
  26. ↑ "Grand Challenges: Innovative ideas for saving lives get a leg up". Toronto Star. April 29, 2013. https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/04/29/innovative_ideas_for_saving_lives_get_a_leg_up.html. 
  27. ↑ "Lending a helping hand: Victoria non-profit in the running for huge Google grant". Global News. March 9, 2017. http://globalnews.ca/news/3297918/lending-a-helping-hand-victoria-non-profit-in-the-running-for-huge-google-grant/. 
  28. ↑ "UBC researchers create self-propelled powder to stop bleeding". University of British Columbia. October 2, 2015. https://news.ubc.ca/2015/10/02/ubc-researchers-create-self-propelled-powder-to-stop-bleeding/. 
  29. ↑ "Stars in Global Health". Grand Challenges Canada. http://www.grandchallenges.ca/programs/stars-in-global-health. 
  30. ↑ Wamuswa, Nanjinia. "Canada gives Kenyan scientist Sh8.5 million research grant" (in en). https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/health/article/2000099197/canada-gives-kenyan-scientist-sh8-5-million-research-grant. 
  31. ↑ "Saving Lives at Birth". Saving Lives at Birth. https://savinglivesatbirth.net. 
  32. ↑ "Saving Brains". Saving Brains. https://savingbrainsinnovation.net. 
  33. ↑ "Global Mental Health". Grand Challenges Canada. http://www.grandchallenges.ca/programs/global-mental-health. 
  34. ↑ "Mental Health for Sustainable Development". All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health. http://www.mhinnovation.net/sites/default/files/downloads/resource/APPG_Mental-Health_Web.pdf. 
  35. ↑ "A Depression-Fighting Strategy That Could Go Viral". New York Times. December 4, 2014. https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/a-depression-fighting-strategy-that-could-go-viral/?mcubz=0. 
  36. ↑ "Transition-to-Scale". Grand Challenges Canada. http://www.grandchallenges.ca/programs/transition-to-scale. 
  37. ↑ "Global Health Investment Fund". Global Health Investment Fund. http://www.ghif.com. 
  38. ↑ "Global Health Investment Fund". JPMorgan Chase & Co.. https://www.jpmorganchase.com/corporate/Corporate-Responsibility/global-health-investment-fund. 
  39. ↑ "Every Woman Every Child Innovation Marketplace". Every Woman Every Child. 12 December 2016. http://www.everywomaneverychild.org/about/ewec-ecosystem/#sect12. 
  40. ↑ "Humanitarian Grand Challenge". https://humanitariangrandchallenge.org. 
  41. ↑ "Our People". Grand Challenges Canada. http://www.grandchallenges.ca/who-we-are/our-people/. 

External links



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