Largest private grant in University history supports critical research
State-of-the-art research facility
The grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will help the University begin construction on the school’s $35 million flagship building, located on the Pullman campus. It will provide modern facilities to support global animal health research.
“Washington State University's College of Veterinary Medicine is a worldwide leader in research on animal health and its link to human health,” said WSU President Elson S. Floyd. “The generous support of the Gates Foundation is truly transformational. The work of WSU researchers will be dramatically enhanced, and the results of their work could impact countless lives in this country and around the globe.”
Three approaches to animal health challenges
Washington State University has won worldwide recognition for its infectious disease research focused uniquely on preventing transmission of animal pathogens. This expertise will be harnessed in the new School for Global Animal Health, which will focus on three interrelated approaches to global animal and public health:
- emerging pathogen and disease detection
- development and deployment of life-saving vaccines
- control of disease transmission from animals to humans
“You cannot identify a healthy human population in which the animals are not also healthy. Humans are inextricably linked to their animals, whether for food, for work, or for companionship. Solving the challenge of global poverty is not possible without a focus on animals,” said Warwick Bayly, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine at WSU. “Controlling infectious diseases at the animal-human interface is fundamental to eliminating the impact of these diseases on human health and well-being."