Google Life Sciences (GLS) and the American Heart Association (AHA) has announced a $50 million collaboration to find new ways to fight heart disease.
GLS and AHA have agreed to invest $25 million each for a total of $50 million over roughly five years to fund research in coronary heart disease, which causes one in every three deaths in the United States.
Heart disease is the world's top killer, a problem that "seems ripe for new innovation" and disruptive, unconventional thinking, said Andy Conrad, Google Life Sciences' chief executive. Progress has been slow and "we should shake it up a little bit," he said.
What is surprising about the collaboration is how the money will be distributed: all $50 million will go to one interdisciplinary team led by one investigator.
This marks the largest one-time research investment in AHA’s history. For the Google group, its latest biomedical venture will join projects that include innovative devices such as driverless cars, contact lenses that monitor blood-sugar for diabetics and health-tracking wristbands.
The official announcement can be found here.
