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Gates Foundation gives $279 million to University of Washington

President Barack Obama, accompanied by Melinda Gates, left, presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Bill Gates, center, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016, in Washington. (Andrew Harnik / Associated Press)

SEATTLE – The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is awarding $279 million to the University of Washington to expand its work in improving global population health.

The grant funds another decade of work at the university’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which provides critical data about the world’s health problems and evaluates strategies to address them.

The grant announced Wednesday is the largest gift in the UW’s history.

The money from the world’s largest private foundation comes just months another $210 million gift to IHME to build a new facility. To date, the Seattle-based foundation has given the university nearly $1.25 billion in total grants.

Bill Gates said in a statement that the population health research center provides data that can empower policymakers worldwide to identify better solutions to fight diseases.