Karolinska Institutet joins the Wellcome Leap Health Breakthrough Network
Karolinska Institutet has signed an agreement with Wellcome Leap that enabled KI to join the Leap Health Breakthrough Network. This global network comprises many leading academic and research institutions across six continents, that are committed to solving the world’s most serious global health challenges.
On April 8th 2021, Karolinska Institutet and Wellcome Leap signed a Master Research Funding Agreement (MARFA) that enabled Karolinska Institutet to join the Leap Health Breakthrough Network. The program and the network are designed to catalyze innovation breakthroughs that require momentum, and diverse capabilities, wherever they exist globally.
This MARFA agreement addresses all the terms and conditions for Leap program funding, including IP, ownership, and publication and is designed to expediate the rapid resourcing, contracting and launch of bold, capabilities-focused multi-partner programs. Signing this MARFA means that Karolinska Institutet needs to now only negotiate statements of work and costs before funds can be transferred and project work begun.
"The Wellcome Leap Health Breakthrough Network provides a unique opportunity to achieve global transformation for health. Such transformation is a high priority for Karolinska Institutet and for our efforts to address unique health challenges, as a means of contributing to achieving the sustainable development goals as stated in the UN 2030 Agenda. Addressing such health challenges is complex and requires collaboration across multiple sectors, disciplines, and geographical boundaries. As such, I am both proud and pleased that Karolinska Institutet has now joined the Wellcome Leap Health Breakthrough Network and look forward to exploring further how we as a university can contribute to this important initiative", says Ole Petter Ottersen, President of Karolinska Institutet.
About Wellcome Leap
Wellcome Leap builds and executes bold, unconventional programs, funded at scale. Programs that aim to deliver breakthroughs in human health over 5 – 10 years. Founded by the Wellcome Trust in 2020 as a US nonprofit with initial funding of $300 million, Leap programs target complex human health challenges with the goal of achieving breakthrough scientific and technological solutions. Operating at the intersection of life sciences and engineering, Leap programs require best-in-class, multi-disciplinary, global teams assembled from universities, companies, and nonprofits working together to solve problems that they cannot solve alone.