In the developing world, more than 18,000 people die each day from HIV, TB, malaria, and poor access to basic health care; many more are caught in a poverty trap resulting from health-related income shocks, productivity losses, and family disruption. Lack of political will plays a role in this—but persistent challenges in the lab and the field have also slowed improvements in health for the poor. To accelerate gains in global health, the toolset for diagnosis, prevention and treatment of disease must be expanded.
 

The new Berkeley Alliance for Global Health is poised to address these challenges. Comprised of two centers—the Henry Wheeler Center for Emerging and Neglected Diseases and the Center for Global Public Health—this innovative "discovery to delivery" platform joins quantitative biosciences and bioengineering with international field expertise in public health and health policy. Through the initiative, more than 80 investigators in 14 departments and schools are collaborating on research projects that integrate cutting-edge discovery science (including computational biology, genomics, and synthetic biology) with greater understanding of slum and refugee health, environmental disease burden, and other challenges in the developing world. The Alliance officially launched in May 2008, with a campus-wide event.
 
READ MORE about the launch at UC Berkeley's NewsCenter.