The Open Philanthropy Project recommended a grant of $11,367,500 over five years to the University of Washington’s Institute for Protein Design (IPD) to support research on the use of computational protein design to develop a universal influenza vaccine. This work will be led by UW Professor David Baker, Ph.D., and UW Assistant Professor Neil King, Ph.D. In addition, part of this funding is intended to improve the Rosetta molecular modeling and design software originally developed in Baker’s lab. UW Assistant Professor Frank DiMaio, Ph.D., and others will work to improve Rosetta to better predict the properties of proteins, which Open Philanthropy believes could lead to many helpful applications in both human and animal health, such as facilitating faster creation of antiviral therapies in the event of a pandemic outbreak.
This grant falls within Open Philanthropy's work on scientific research.