SEATTLE, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI), a Seattle-based non-profit scientific research institute, recently received a $252,000 grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust for core research equipment.
The Murdock Trust grant will enable IDRI to assemble an equipment core to enhance its basic research on immune responses against infectious diseases. IDRI’s mission is to research and develop technologies to be used against diseases that continue to burden individuals and countries in the developing world.
IDRI projects enabled under the Murdock grant are focused on chronic infections resulting in leishmaniasis, tuberculosis, trachoma, Buruli ulcer, leprosy, and Chagas disease. Together, these diseases present major public health burdens and cause premature death or disability.
New Equipment and Uses
The Murdock Trust core equipment grant will enable IDRI to purchase large equipment that is difficult to obtain with conventional research grant funding. Once implemented, the equipment core will enable IDRI’s researchers to engage in high-throughput and state-of-the-art assays. Expanding IDRI’s basic research equipment core will facilitate the investigation of pathogen- induced immune responses and will help identify new treatment strategies for target infections.
“We are confident we can effectively use this generous grant from the Murdock Trust to perform much needed research about diseases that plague so many millions of people around the world,” says Steve Reed, Founder and Head of Research and Development of IDRI.
About M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust
The M.J. Murdock Charitable trust was established in 1975 by the late Melvin J. (Jack) Murdock, who co-founded Tektronix, Inc. of Beaverton, Oregon, and resided in Vancouver, Washington. The mission of the Murdock Charitable Trust is to enrich the quality of life in the Pacific Northwest by providing grants to organizations that seek to strengthen the region’s educational and cultural base in creative and sustainable ways. Although the major funding interests are education and scientific research, grants are also given to a wide variety of organizations, including those that serve the arts, public affairs, health and medicine, human services, and people with disabilities.
The Murdock Charitable Trust has focused its grant-making efforts in the following five states of the Pacific Northwest: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Beyond grant-making and investment, the Murdock Charitable Trust functions to convene groups of people to discuss issues of mutual interest. This practice is of great assistance to the Murdock Charitable Trust in exploring ways of responding to new grant-making opportunities consistent with its mission and, in addition, promotes a sharing of ideas and networking among participants.
For more information, see: http://www.murdock-trust.org/
About IDRI
IDRI is a non-profit organization committed to developing technologies to treat “neglected” diseases that place a significant burden on those living in the developing world. IDRI achieves its mission by working closely with industry, universities, and hospitals in developed and developing countries, government and private funding agencies, and the World Health Organization. For more information, go to http://www.idri.org.
CONTACT: Curt Malloy of IDRI, +1-206-330-2505, cmalloy@idri.org
Web site: http://www.idri.org//
