
In a tumultuous year, Wellcome has been at the heart of the global scientific response to the Covid-19 pandemic, while maintaining support for our broad portfolio of research. Our 2019/20 annual report, published today, reveals Wellcome spent £1.1 billion on research, innovation and advocacy.
Image © MORU 2020
Photographer: Supa-at (Ice) Asarath / Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit
Below we have highlighted some of the groundbreaking work we’ve supported this year.
Wellcome has been a strong advocate for public and private sector support for Covid-19 research across the world. During the year:
Support for other research was maintained despite the many challenges posed by the pandemic. Among the highlights from the year:
Wellcome’s continued support for research has been possible because of the performance of our investment portfolio, which is managed by our in-house investments team. Our long-term approach to investing has seen a 12.3% return over the year to 30 September 2020, when our portfolio was valued at £29.1 billion, up £2.3 billion from 2019.
However, as this year has shown, we can’t take anything for granted, with significant uncertainties for the year ahead, and the investments team are working hard to ensure we’re as well placed as possible to face these challenges.
Lagos, Nigeria, 2019
A resident sits in his room with his feet up on a paint bucket to avoid the floodwater.
Nyancho NwaNri / Wellcome Photography Prize 2020
This year, we launched a new vision and strategy to guide our charitable activities over the coming decades, and to help our partners understand what we do, and why. Our new vision is to support science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone. We will fund discovery research exploring life, health and wellbeing across a wide range of disciplines, seeking insights that can inspire future improvements in health. And we will bring together expertise across science, innovation and society to develop equitable solutions to the challenges of mental health, global heating, and infectious diseases.
Diversity and inclusion (D&I) is at the heart of this new strategy. We have a D&I strategy focusing on racism and disability, and taking a more proactive approach to changing some of the systemic issues that hinder diversity and equity in health, in research culture, and in our own organisation. There will also be an emphasis on lived experience and equitable solutions that benefit those most affected by the health challenges identified.
Eliza Manningham-Buller, Chair of GovernorsThere are many challenges ahead, and the world needs strong, compassionate leadership. Wellcome has a role to play, supporting science and finding solutions to urgent worldwide health issues.