The role of nonprofit grantmakers in the age of technology transfer: Attitudes about philanthropic funding in the biomedical research community.

摘要

This dissertation explores possible strategies for philanthropic leadership to enhance biomedical research on behalf of the public interest as funding is being shifted from a government-sponsored model to one of increasing reliance on the private sector. America's academic health research centers find themselves at a critical crossroads in this funding environment. They were nurtured by Industrial Age philanthropists and matured with 20th century federal grant programs that produced our leading scientists. Today the centers have outgrown the federal funding system that created them. Although foundations were leaders in developing the nation's health research infrastructure, the role of nonprofit grantmakers is widely diffused today.; The research was conducted in two stages that included textual analysis of American foundation publications to identify key grantmaker interests, and creation of surveys assessing attitude agreement toward these issues. The surveys were submitted to academic-based biomedical researchers, National Institutes of Health program officers, biotechnology/pharmaceutical industry managers, and health-related nonprofit grantmakers.; The surveys found that while the ratio of philanthropic dollars devoted to biomedical research may be small compared to government, their significance is decisive in areas where societal needs are often overlooked by the larger federal and industry agendas. These areas include: (1) Enhancing the work of the scientific community through activities such as facilitating collaborative research initiatives or funding programs to increase public understanding of scientific issues; (2) Programming in areas overlooked by government and industry such as the health concerns of underserved populations; (3) Strengthening the innovative potential of nonprofit research funders such as encouraging greater program flexibility and embracing risk as a necessary component of philanthropy that rejects the safety of incremental advance in the face of vast and compelling health needs. With the art and skill of a diamond cutter, philanthropy can transform important facets of the nation's biomedical research enterprise with careful aim at these critical points.