- The funds were sent to the account of the University of California San Diego
- The money will be used to create a new research unit, The Airborne Institute.
Balvi Foundation led by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin donated $15 million for airborne pathogen research. The funds were sent to the accounts of the University of California. This was the largest donation the organization has ever received.
The funds received are planned to be used to create a new research unit of the Meta-Institute for Airborne Disease in a Changing Climate. The research team will be led by Professor and Director of Prater University and Rommy Amaro.
“I would like to express my deep gratitude to Vitalik Buterin and his Balvi Foundation for this opportunity to better understand the production, survival and transport of microbes,” said Kimberly Prather, professor at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Since its inception in May 2022, the Balvi Foundation has made more than ten donations. The largest grant of $5.3 million was given to the University of New South Wales to develop a tool for the early detection of virus outbreaks. The charity also donated $15 million to the Long Covid Research Initiative, which is studying the specific disease caused by the COVID-19 virus, Long Covi.
This is not the first time the Ethereum co-founder has been involved in charity work. At the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he donated 1,500 ETH to the needs of Ukrainians.
