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KAI RYSSDAL: This final note . . .

Hedge funds invest in everything from toll bridges to movies. Now, one firm is backing a more worthy cause.

Gotham Capital has teamed up with medical researchers to offer a $1 million prize for cancer research.

Dr. Gary Curhan of Harvard Medical School says the Gotham Prize is designed to foster innovation in a field where it’s been lacking.

GARY CURHAN: We are not making as much progress in preventing and diagnosing and treating cancer. And myself as well as the other founders of the Gotham project for cancer research thought we needed to take a new approach.

He points out federal funding has been relatively flat in recent years. And that that’s a challenge for researchers writing grant proposals to finance their work.

He did say it doesn’t just have to be professionals who enter the contest. Dr. Curhan said anybody who’s got a good idea is welcome to try it out.