Seattle billionaire Paul Allen added another venture to his philanthropic portfolio today with the creation of the Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group, a $100 million program to support research on the frontiers of bioscience.
The effort aims to establish Allen Discovery Centers at research institutions around the world, and provide millions of dollars to Allen Distinguished Investigators for cutting-edge biological and medical research. Bioengineer Tom Skalak, the Frontiers Group’s founding executive director, said the support should “create entire new fields in some cases.”
Allen unveiled the program at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., amid endorsements from the presidents of the national academies of science, engineering and medicine. He said the goal of the Frontiers Group, which will be headquartered in Seattle, is to fund “out-of-the-box approaches at the very edges of knowledge.”
