#78 – Jacob Trefethen on Global Health R&D

#78 – Jacob Trefethen on Global Health R&D

From Hear This Idea by Fin Moorhouse and Luca Righetti

September 8, 2024 · 2h 30m · Episode 78

About this episode

Jacob Trefethen discusses the challenges and opportunities in global health R&D, including the role of open source AI models and neglected diseases.

Jacob Trefethen oversees Open Philanthropy’s science and science policy programs. He was a Henry Fellow at Harvard University, and has a B.A. from the University of Cambridge. You can find links and a transcript at www.hearthisidea.com/episodes/trefethen In this episode we talked about open source the risks and benefits of open source AI models. We talk about: Life-saving health technologies which probably won't exist in 5 years (without a concerted effort) — like a widely available TB vaccine, and bugs which stop malaria spreading How R&D for neglected diseases works — How much does the world spend on it? How do drugs for neglected diseases go from design to distribution? No-brainer policy ideas for speeding up global health R&D Comparing health R&D to public health interventions (like bed nets ) Comparing the social returns to frontier (‘Progress Studies’) to global health R&D Why is there no GiveWell -equivalent for global health R&D? Won't AI do all the R&D for us soon? You can get in touch through our website or on Twitter . Consider leaving us an honest review wherever you're listening to this — it's the best free way to support the show. Thanks for…

People in this episode

Guest: Jacob Trefethen

Topics covered

  • global health
  • R&D
  • open source
  • AI models
  • neglected diseases
  • public health interventions
  • policy ideas

Keywords

  • health technologies
  • TB vaccine
  • malaria
  • social returns
  • GiveWell

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: B.A.

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