Bill Gates gives £50m to regional development agency

Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates has given £50m to the North West Regional Development Agency to develop the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM).

The money will give a huge boost to the new Centre for Tropical and Infectious Diseases at LSTM, which this week received funding from the NWDA and the European Union of £18m. Construction of the new research facility will double the School’s size.

Gates’ grant will fund an international research programme and means that the LSTM will be one of the world’s leading institutions dedicated to developing treatments for infectious and tropical diseases such as malaria.

Steven Broomhead, Chief Executive of the North West Regional Development Agency said:

“I am pleased that the investment made by the NWDA into the new Centre for Tropical and Infectious Diseases has levered in this crucial grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This is significant news for the region, and once again highlights that the North-west really is leading the way in scientific and medical research.”