Carnegie Mellon Joins Network Dedicated to Accelerated Breakthroughs in Human Health

Carnegie Mellon University has joined the Wellcome Leap Health Breakthrough Network, a global group of leading academic and research institutions focused on quickly solving the world’s most serious health challenges. The network, established by Wellcome Leap, is designed to accelerate innovations and eliminate typical barriers, such as lengthy funding agreement timelines and a lack of collaboration.

Carnegie Mellon is one of 21 institutions in the Leap Health Breakthrough Network. Together, the group represents more than 150,000 researchers across six continents.

Each member operates under a first-of-its-kind Master Academic Research Funding Agreement (MARFA), which equitably addresses all terms and conditions, including IP, ownership and publication. As part of the group, CMU will only need to negotiate each individual statement of work and associated costs before funds can be transmitted and research can begin.

“Carnegie Mellon is excited to be a charter member of this Wellcome Leap program, bringing research expertise from across the university to unleash breakthrough knowledge and solutions for global healthcare,” said J. Michael McQuade, CMU’s vice president for research. “This cross-disciplinary, collaborative approach to research is the defining element of CMU's ability to innovate and do work that matters.”

Wellcome Leap is an advanced projects non-profit founded by the Wellcome Trust to accelerate innovations that benefit global health. Leap Chief Operating Officer Ken Gabriel is a former CMU faculty member.