The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation gives unrestricted individual "genius" grants to activists, academics, musicians, authors and others. (Michael Kremer, a non-resident fellow of CGD and the thinker behind the Making Markets for Vaccines, is a previous recipient.)
The foundation has now added a new round of 'genis' grants (actually called MacArthur Awards for Creative and Effective Institutions) for institutions and NGOs. The MacArthur Foundation has announced that Knowledge Ecology International (formerly CPTech) was among the first winners of its new round of organizational genius grants. KEI, which is lead by Jamie Love, pushes the United States and the international community to overcome patent and other intellectual property rights hurdles to make drugs to fight AIDS and other diseases available in poor countries.The Washington Post is broadly complimentary. Drugwonks is not.Owen comments: I've been very impressed by Jamie Love. He understands the need for economic incentives for innovation, unlike many access-for-treatment advocates. He is also ambitious in his proposals for remodelling the incentive structure for drug development, to promote both innovation and access.
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CGD blog posts reflect the views of the authors, drawing on prior research and experience in their areas of expertise. CGD is a nonpartisan, independent organization and does not take institutional positions.
