Els Torreele

The Open Society Institute works to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. To achieve its mission, OSI seeks to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. On a local level, OSI implements a range of initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media. At the same time, OSI builds alliances across borders and continents on issues such as corruption and freedom of information. OSI places a high priority on protecting and improving the lives of people in marginalized communities. Investor and philanthropist George Soros in 1993 created OSI as a private operating and grantmaking foundation to support his foundations in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Those foundations were established, starting in 1984, to help countries make the transition from communism. OSI has expanded the activities of the Soros foundations network to encompass the United States and more than 60 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Each Soros foundation relies on the expertise of boards composed of eminent citizens who determine individual agendas based on local priorities.

Médecins Sans Frontières (UK) is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1971. The non-profit company is based in London, UK. MSF provides vital medical care to people in over 65 countries who are affected by wars, natural disasters, and epidemics. The British company offers affordable access to high-quality education in tropical medicine through a part-time course. MSF relies on private individuals and organizations for 100% of their donations, and their network of fundraisers helps them deliver life-saving care across the world. The company's commitment to offering high-quality medical care in challenging settings has made research and innovation a part of their lifeblood.

Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie - Flanders Institute operates as a non-profit organization, provides research and development services. It specializes in translating basic scientific results into pharmaceutical, agricultural and industrial applications. The company was founded on January 1, 1996 and is headquartered in Ghent, Belgium.

Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative provides drug research and development services. It specializes in analyzing the causes of and in developing medicine and treatments for neglected diseases. It specializes in the study of neglected tropical diseases, such as sleeping sickness (Human African Trypanosomiasis), Leishmaniasis, Chagas, malaria, pediatric HIV, and filarial diseases. It develops a research and development portfolio that includes projects from discovery through to post-registration phases. Its focus areas encompass regional disease-specific platform development, technology transfer, and public responsibility and awareness advocacies. The organization was founded in July 2003 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.