JAMA Network | JAMA | Science, Medicine, and Society:  A View From the Wellcome Trust

" ... The Wellcome Trust was established in London in 1936, under the will of Sir Henry Wellcome, to advance medical research and the understanding of its history. The Trust continues to pursue that vision today, supported by investments currently worth about $27 billion, of which more than $1 billion is spent each year around the world.3 The Trust funds research across the biomedical sciences and biotechnology, interrogating the fundamental processes of life in health and in sickness and using that knowledge to develop ways to promote well-being and to diagnose, treat, or prevent disease. Because the Trust appreciates the importance of the history and social contexts of medicine, it also supports research across the medical humanities, social sciences, and bioethics, as well as funding for artists and educators to engage the public with research. Wellcome Collection, a free public venue, offers exhibitions and events exploring the connections between medicine, life, and art. Last year saw the culmination of Art in Global Health, a project and exhibition involving artist residencies in Trust-funded research centers in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Malawi, Kenya, Thailand, and Vietnam. Such a range of activities provides a unique perspective on health and medicine, incorporating culture and society with science and innovation. Being independent, the Trust can work with national governments, health care systems, and pharmaceutical companies anywhere in the world, as well as with academia, whether funding basic cell biology, population health research, commercial applications, or capacity building and engagement. As part of the Affordable Healthcare in India scheme, for example, the Trust recently supported OneBreath, a Silicon Valley start-up, and Vaatsalya, a health care company in India, to develop a new ventilator that could substantially increase access to mechanical ventilation in Indian community hospitals and help prevent deaths from respiratory illnesses. In the United Kingdom, a different perspective is being explored in a project called Life of Breath: pulmonologists, philosophers of medicine, cultural scholars, and people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are working together to understand the subjective experience of breathing and breathlessness. The Trust can take a very long-term view ,,,: