Even Gates feels the pinch

Written byBob Grant

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As the global economy continues to linkurl:falter;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/54816/ -- taking funding opportunities and linkurl:life science companies;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55089/ with it -- even the mighty Bill Gates is tightening his belt. __The Wall Street Journal__ linkurl:reported;http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122758023670855613.html yesterday (Nov. 24) that The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which linkurl:funds;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/25259/ a lot of research on diseases in the developing world, will trim grant spending in the coming year. Details are sparse, but the organization said that it would increase grant funding by only 10% in 2009, less than previously envisioned. CEO Jeff Raikes, linkurl:wrote;http://www.gatesfoundation.org/press-releases/Pages/statement-financial-crisis-081121.aspx on the foundation's website that, "The financial crisis is affecting everyone, from our foundation to our partners. We know that it has hit our grantees, and the people they're trying to help, especially hard." Raikes also wrote that the foundation would try to cut costs elsewhere. "We have always tried to be great stewards of the resources that have been entrusted to us," he wrote. "Even as we work to make sure that every grant dollar goes as far as possible, we also strive to keep our operational costs low. I have asked our employees to reduce expenses wherever possible, and we are closely scrutinizing our budget."

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Meet the Author

Bob Grant
From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.
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