Renaissance Philanthropy

Joining me today is Dr. Greg Witkop.

He's a surgeon and a scientist and a senior advisor for mental health at Renaissance Philanthropy.

His focus is on bringing a greater biological rigor to understanding the treatment of mental health illness.

Welcome, Greg.

You've been an ophthalmologist.

You've touched neuroscience.

I think before going to Renaissance Philanthropy, you were at DARPA.

Looking back, what are some of the common threads here or common questions that you have worked on or focused on through all these transitions?

And so everybody struggles to raise money.

And so she came up with the same idea of Renaissance Philanthropy.

There's a foundation or a philanthropist who wants to fund purpose-driven film.

And they put up whatever, $5 to $15 million to do that.

So the money's already written off.

And that'll also be up in a couple of weeks.

It was so similar to Renaissance philanthropy because I really liked, and he had raised 500 million in two years.

I mean, that's a lot of money.

Wildlife Technology Fund at Renaissance Philanthropy by Mal Graham.

Published on October 5th, 2026.

Cross-posted from my Substack.

Today, I'm launching the Wildlife Technology Fund at Renaissance Philanthropy.

The purpose of the fund is to scope, design, and manage coordinated research programs, CRPs, focused on making wild animal welfare interventions a reality.

To do this, we're prioritizing work that benefits both people and animals, often by working to solve some kind of wildlife conflict.

ARPA-style grant-making is a specialized skill, and the wild animal welfare community has almost no people trained in it.

Talent development activities will give the Wildlife Technology Fund a pipeline of program ideas and talent and will increase grant-making capacity across the broader animal welfare ecosystem.

Market Shapers is produced by me with help from University FM.

Special thanks to Renaissance Philanthropy, Griffin Catalyst, and the Digital Harbor Foundation for their support.