The Life Sciences Discovery Fund (LSDF) was established in 2005 by the Governor and Legislature of Washington state 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 demonstrates the strongest potential for delivering health and economic returns to the state. LSDF’s diverse grant portfolio spans all stages of development - from discovery through delivery - and addresses a wide array of critical needs in health care, including: • Detection/diagnosis of heart attacks, liver disease, respiratory infections, and early-stage cavities; • Treatments for autoimmune disorders (including lupus, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes), drug addiction, lymphoma, solid cancers, and stroke; • Surgical quality improvement; • Systems biology approaches to biomarker discovery/validation and identification of molecular pathways for drug and diagnostic development; and • Elucidation of the genetic basis of common heart, lung, and blood diseases. LSDF is particularly interested in promoting commercialization of new health-related technologies in Washington by supporting targeted studies to validate commercial merit. Visit http://www.lsdfa.org for information on current grant funding opportunities.