Straight talk with...Jeremy Farrar

Jeremy Farrar is no stranger to running a charitable organization. In 2011, the clinician-scientist and avid cricket player launched the Farrar Foundation, which spends around £9,000 ($15,000) per year supporting medical and sporting activities in Southeast Asia. As director of the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Farrar wanted to give something back to the people he had worked with in region. Now, he is taking his research and philanthropic agendas to a global level. On 1 October, Farrar took the helm of the Wellcome Trust, the second largest nongovernmental funder of biomedical research in the world.It's a natural fit for the Wellcome Trust and Farrar alike-Farrar has leadership experience in the global health arena and the Trust has supported much of his research into dengue, typhoid and other tropical diseases. But the Wellcome Trust, with its £16 billion endowment, is far more than just an enabler of biomedical research. It is also a key player in wider science policy debates, driving forward agendas such as open access while also maintaining active programs of public engagement. Farrar sat down with Daniel Cressey at the Wellcome headquarters in London to discuss his Trust issues.