Bridging Two Valleys of Death: A New Model for Life Sciences

Authored by Christopher C. Conway, Chief Philanthropy Officer & Executive Vice President of Strategic Communications

In the life sciences, the “valley of death” describes the gap between discovery and application. Breakthroughs emerge from universities, yet too many fail to become therapies or scalable solutions. Early-stage science is high risk, translational work is expensive, and incentives are misaligned. Universities are optimized for discovery and publication, while industry focuses on commercialization once risk is reduced. Between them lies an underfunded, uncoordinated space where promising ideas stall.

A second valley exists within philanthropy itself. Traditional models such as endowments, large foundations, and gifts to major research institutions are structurally slow and institution-bound. Endowments prioritize capital preservation, deploying only a small percentage annually. Universities and large research institutions are incentivized to invest inward, favoring buildings, endowed chairs, and long-term stability over speed and cross-sector collaboration. The result is a gap between donor intent and real-world impact, especially for urgent, complex problems.

These two valleys are connected. When philanthropic capital flows primarily into large institutions, it reinforces the very structures that slow translation and limit coordination. The Indiana Biosciences Research Institute (IBRI) is designed to bridge both.

First, IBRI operates between academia and industry, advancing not just discovery but translation. By coordinating across sectors, it helps de-risk early-stage science and move promising ideas toward application.
Second, IBRI represents a more active model of philanthropy. Rather than relying solely on passive, endowment-driven funding, it convenes partners and directs capital toward targeted, time-sensitive opportunities. This aligns with the emerging “Philanthropy 2.0” approach: expert-led, problem-focused, and execution-oriented.

What distinguishes IBRI is its ability to integrate systems that typically operate in silos. It mobilizes capital, aligns stakeholders, and accelerates progress from lab to impact.

Bridging one valley of death is difficult. Bridging two requires a different kind of institution.