LIFE SCIENCES DISCOVERY FUND

The Life Sciences Discovery Fund (LSDF) was established in 2005 by the Governor and Washington's Legislature to foster growth of the state’s life sciences sector and improve the health and economic wellbeing of its residents. LSDF invests monies from the Master Tobacco Settlement Agreement in research and development across Washington that demonstrate the strongest potential for delivering health and economic returns to the state. LSDF received its first tobacco settlement funds in 2008 but initiated granting activities a year earlier thanks to the generosity of corporate and private donors: Amgen, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Group Health Cooperative, Microsoft Corporation, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Regence BlueShield, and Safeco Insurance Foundation.