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Department of Economics

Anthony Wray

Private Foundations: Shaping Leadership in Medical Innovation and Addressing Inequalities in Health

Grant

 

 

 

Anthony Wray
DKK 6.998.747
Carlsberg Foundation

Private Foundations: Shaping Leadership in Medical Innovation and Addressing Inequalities in Health

The project explores how funding from charitable foundations for medical education and research, along with investments by private firms in medical technology, are driving forces for innovation. It also examines how charitable foundations and private firms supported underprivileged populations and offered sickness insurance, helping to reduce health inequalities before the welfare state emerged. The project highlights the pivotal role of private philanthropies for US leadership in medical innovation by the 1950s and argues that these private investments fueled advancements that shaped modern medicine. Understanding the return on private health investments by mega-donors and charities while addressing barriers to medical technology are key to reducing global health inequalities.

 

 

Last Updated 20.06.2025