Recent Foundation Grants

Abbott Fund

BU’s Global Health Collaborative, based in the Department of Family Medicine at the School of Medicine, is working with the Abbott Fund to assist Bach Mai Hospital and Hanoi Medical University in Vietnam to develop national guidelines and establish a national degree program in clinical nutrition.

Aetna Foundation, Inc.

Aetna is helping faculty at the Sargent Choice Nutrition Center establish a nutrition and physical fitness program for children in grades 1–8 in the Foxboro (Mass.) Public Schools.

Another recent grant was awarded to the Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University’s School of Medicine for a two-year study of factors that influence obesity among African American women. This study includes both individual and neighborhood-level factors and the identification of the most effective small changes individuals can make to decrease obesity rates among African-American women. Data from more than 20,000 participants in the ongoing Black Women’s Health Study will be examined, including data on diet and exercise patterns, psychosocial stressors, and the neighborhood environment where the women live. Researchers hope to identify small, actionable changes women can take to reduce weight gain, and to acquire evidence that will lead to policy and institutional-level changes that can impact weight gain and obesity, for example neighborhood safety and walkability and grocery store accessibility.

Eugene V. and Rosalie DeFreitas Charitable Trust

The DeFreitas Charitable Trust supports research and education on western and non-western mission history, as well as emerging Christian movements in Africa, Asia, and Latin America at the Center for Global Christianity & Mission at the University’s School of Theology.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The Center for Global Health & Development, a division of the Department of International Health at the BU School of Public Health, is working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to test the effectiveness of low-cost methods of reducing neonatal mortality. The lead investigator, Dr. Davidson Hamer, associate professor, is carrying out the project in Zambia.

Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust

Edward Damiano, associate professor of biomedical engineering, was awarded a generous two-year grant from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust to support inpatient trials of automated glucose control in children with type 1 diabetes.

Biogen Idec Foundation

Biogen Idec, a major supporter of public school science education, is working with CityLab, a learning laboratory at the Boston University School of Medicine, to provide access to state-of-the-art biotechnology facilities and curriculum to students and teachers in grades 7–12. Since 1992, more than 70,000 students have participated in hands-on, discovery-oriented investigations, and 2,000 teachers have attended workshops at CityLab or aboard the MobileLab traveling laboratory.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Associate Professor Kevin Outterson, co-director of the Health Law Program at Boston University School of Law, received the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for a study, “Implications of Antimicrobial Drug Regulation.”

Henry Luce Foundation

The Institute for Culture, Religion & World Affairs (CURA) received generous funding from the Henry Luce Foundation for an international religious pluralism and civic peace initiative. The lead faculty members are CURA Director and Professor of Anthropology Robert Hefner and Professor of Religion and CURA Research Associate Adam Seligman.

Peter F. McManus Charitable Trust

The Peter F. McManus Charitable Trust is funding Assistant Professor Valentina Sabino’s research on the neural underpinnings of alcohol addiction at the School of Medicine’s Laboratory of Addictive Disorders.

Rockefeller Foundation

Boston University’s Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future is partnering with the Rockefeller Foundation to analyze and draw conclusions from data collected by the foundation’s Searchlight program, which identifies emerging trends that impact the lives of poor populations around the world.