Google Life Science, AHA Invest $50 Million To Cure Heart Disease

In a search of a cure for heart disease, Google Life Sciences has pledged millions in a joint five-year research project with the American Heart Association (AHA).

The recent announcement explains how both organizations will contribute $25 million each to support one research team and new approaches to better understand, prevent, and reverse coronary heart disease.

Cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of death globally -- accounting annually for approximately 17 million deaths, or about one of every three deaths. Coronary heart disease is responsible for more than 7 million deaths annually, according to the AHA.

Andy Conrad, CEO of Google Life Sciences, said in a statement that the team will create a fundamentally different kind of model for funding innovation. The team leader will bring together clinicians, engineers, designers, basic researchers and other experts to think in new ways about the causes of coronary heart disease.

A team leader will design the program and assemble a cross-functional group to support the collaboration, which will provide the scientific community with channels to technical insights offered by Google Life Sciences. With the unique opportunity to access such resources, the collaboration will expand research pathways and empower researchers to conceptualize and test new approaches.

The investment marks the largest one-time research investment in AHA’s history. Traditional research funding models are typically incremental and piecemeal, making it difficult to study a multifaceted subject that plays out over many years, per the two companies.

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