• Focus Areas
    • Cause Selection
    • Global Health & Wellbeing
      • Effective Altruism Community Growth (Global Health and Wellbeing)
      • Farm Animal Welfare
      • Global Aid Policy
      • Global Health & Development
      • Global Health R&D
      • Scientific Research
      • South Asian Air Quality
    • Longtermism
      • Biosecurity & Pandemic Preparedness
      • Effective Altruism Community Growth (Longtermism)
      • Potential Risks from Advanced AI
    • Other Areas
      • Criminal Justice Reform
      • History of Philanthropy
      • Immigration Policy
      • Land Use Reform
      • Macroeconomic Stabilization Policy
  • Grants
  • Research & Updates
    • Research Reports
    • Blog Posts
    • Notable Lessons
    • In the News
  • About Us
    • Grantmaking Process
    • How to Apply for Funding
    • Team
    • Contact Us
    • Stay Updated
  • We’re hiring!
  • Focus Areas
    • Cause Selection
    • Global Health & Wellbeing
      • Effective Altruism Community Growth (Global Health and Wellbeing)
      • Farm Animal Welfare
      • Global Aid Policy
      • Global Health & Development
      • Global Health R&D
      • Scientific Research
      • South Asian Air Quality
    • Longtermism
      • Biosecurity & Pandemic Preparedness
      • Effective Altruism Community Growth (Longtermism)
      • Potential Risks from Advanced AI
    • Other Areas
      • Criminal Justice Reform
      • History of Philanthropy
      • Immigration Policy
      • Land Use Reform
      • Macroeconomic Stabilization Policy
  • Grants
  • Research & Updates
    • Research Reports
    • Blog Posts
    • Notable Lessons
    • In the News
  • About Us
    • Grantmaking Process
    • How to Apply for Funding
    • Team
    • Contact Us
    • Stay Updated
  • We’re hiring!

VST Bio — Stroke Treatment

  • Portfolio Area: Human Health and Wellbeing
  • Focus Area: Scientific Research
  • Organization Name: VST Bio
  • Amount: $4,500,000

  • Award Date: July 2020

Table of Contents


    Grant investigators: Chris Somerville and Heather Youngs

    This page was reviewed but not written by the grant investigators. VST Bio staff also reviewed this page prior to publication.


    Open Philanthropy recommended an investment of $4,500,000 in VST Bio to develop a novel treatment for stroke and traumatic brain disease. Stroke is the second most common cause of death worldwide and the third most common cause of disability. Currently, there are no drugs that reduce the brain damage caused by acute stroke. Following our March 2019 support to Yale University, researchers developed antibodies that significantly reduce the brain damage caused by stroke in mice. This seed-stage investment is intended to support additional research and development in the hopes that VST Bio can subsequently raise additional funds from other investors to conduct a clinical trial of the treatment in humans.

    This falls within our work on scientific research, specifically within our interest in advancing human health and wellbeing.

    The investment amount was updated in April 2022.

    Related Items

    • Human Health and Wellbeing

      University of Georgia — Malaria Research (2023)

      Open Philanthropy recommended a grant of $192,925 over three years to the University of Georgia to support research on Plasmodium vivax, which is one of the parasite species...

      Read more
    • Human Health and Wellbeing

      Washington University in St. Louis — Omega-3 Trial for Pregnant Women

      Open Philanthropy recommended a grant of $1,500,000 over three years to Washington University in St. Louis to support a randomized controlled trial in Sierra Leone, led by Dr. Mark...

      Read more
    • Human Health and Wellbeing

      Foundation for Professional Development Fund — Syphilis Genome Sequencing

      Open Philanthropy recommended a grant of $229,080 over three years to the Foundation for Professional Development Fund to support their collaboration with the University of Southern California and...

      Read more
    Back to Grants Database
    Open Philanthropy
    Open Philanthropy
    • Careers
    • Press Kit
    • Governance
    • Privacy Policy
    • Stay Updated
    Mailing Address
    Open Philanthropy
    182 Howard Street #225
    San Francisco, CA 94105
    Email
    [email protected]
    Media Inquiries
    [email protected]
    Anonymous Feedback
    Feedback Form

    © Open Philanthropy 2022 Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International License. If you'd like to translate this content into another language, please get in touch!