Partners In Health Announces $25 Million Pledge from Weiss Asset Management Foundation and Associated Donors to Support Institute of Global Health Equity Research in Rwanda

Boston (October 27, 2022) – Partners In Health announced today a $25 million pledge from the Weiss Asset Management Foundation and associated donors to the Institute of Global Health Equity Research (IGHER) at the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE), an initiative of Partners In Health. This pledge, to be funded over the next 25 years, will provide critical resources and training to facilitate and advance research addressing vital health needs in low-income countries.

IGHER seeks to bring together leading global health experts, medical researchers, and students to provide the human and physical infrastructure for previously under-resourced initiatives. These initiatives include conducting clinical trials, building biobanks and other repositories for medical research, promoting innovations in the digital provision of medical services, and providing the flexibility to adapt to other needs as they arise.

“We are very grateful to the Weiss Asset Management Foundation and its partners for their generous long-term commitment to the Institute,” said IGHER Director Dr. Cristina Stefan. “It will enable critical investments that will help establish IGHER as a hub for clinical trials, African healthcare research, and cutting-edge medical and genomic advancements for populations underserved by modern medicine.”

“IGHER at the University of Global Health Equity is an incredible initiative that will leverage the impactful care delivery work happening every day across PIH sites,” said Partners In Health Chief Executive Officer Dr. Sheila Davis. “We're grateful to the Weiss Asset Management Foundation for supporting IGHER in this particularly critical time, as we face increased global crises that call for more targeted and expansive research for low-income countries who have borne, and will continue to bear, the burden disproportionately.”

“Throughout my years of non-profit work in developing countries, I have seen firsthand the immediate positive impact of well-designed health interventions on the health of people in under-resourced settings. But over the long run the greatest impact will come from research that results in interventions which address the root causes of morbidity and mortality in low-income countries,” said Andrew Weiss, Director of the Weiss Asset Management Foundation. “Together with the Foundation’s funding partners, we are exploring collaborations between the Institute, Mass General Brigham, and other leading institutions. We believe that great synergies can be achieved by facilitating interactions between leading researchers in Boston and the Institute in Rwanda.” 

The Weiss Asset Management Foundation is hosting a launch event to introduce IGHER to the international community on Thursday, October 27 at the Loeb House at Harvard (17 Quincy St., Cambridge, MA). The event will begin at 2 p.m. with Nobel Prize Laureate Esther Duflo giving the keynote address. Dr. Jim Yong Kim, who served as the former president of the World Bank, and other distinguished speakers will also be addressing the audience. The livestream of the event can also be viewed by accessing this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIDUDrA9bck.

###

About Partners In Health

Founded in Haiti in 1987, Partners In Health is a nonprofit social justice organization working to bring the benefits of modern medical science to those most in need. Some 30 years later, it has a documented history of implementing effective health delivery models in partnership with governments and academic institutions around the world, providing high-quality care to millions of patients. Learn more at www.pih.org.

About Weiss Asset Management Foundation

The Weiss Asset Management Foundation operates as the charitable arm of Weiss Asset Management (WAM). Its mission – achieved through funding and grants to organizations across the world – is to alleviate suffering. The Weiss Asset Management Foundation has made substantial grants to fund groundbreaking research on expanding access to vaccines in rural communities in Africa.  In response to the COVID crisis, it provided oxygen concentrators to rural communities in India, and made up for a funding shortfall for an NGO that was an effective provider of primary health care in rural Nepal. WAM recently made a substantial financial commitment to the Foundation as part of its goal to increase the Foundation's impact. For more information about the Weiss Asset Management Foundation, visit www.weissasset.com/#_philanthropy.

About the University of Global Health Equity

The University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) is a health sciences university in Rwanda. An initiative of Partners In Health, UGHE is a private, not-for-profit, accredited institution. It was founded in 2014, thanks to the visionary leadership of the late Dr. Paul Farmer and the generous support of the Cummings Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Learn more at www.ughe.org.