University of Washington — Syphilis Vaccine Development (Lorenzo Giacani)

[Human Health and Wellbeing] Grant Investigators: Heather Youngs and Chris Somerville This page was reviewed but not written by the grant investigators. University of Washington staff also reviewed this page prior to publication. Open Philanthropy recommended a grant of $816,063 over three years to the University of Washington to support research led by Dr. Lorenzo Giacani that may facilitate the development of a vaccine against syphilis. A leading cause of stillbirth, syphilis is carried by an estimated 36 million people worldwide and infects approximately 11 million people annually.1 Our scientific research team believes that an effective syphilis vaccine could prevent hundreds of thousands of neonatal deaths. Giacani is participating in a collaborative project with David Baker and Neil King at the University of Washington, Kelly Hawley and Melissa Caimano at the University of Connecticut Health Center, and Anastassia Vorobieva at the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology. (See "Related Items", below.) This falls within our work on scientific research, specifically within our interest in advancing human health and wellbeing.