This paper gives examples of public/private partnerships that support research, support drug development and that advance policy development, suggesting that such partnerships can advance our understanding and control of emerging infections. The investment in emerging infectious diseases from government and from industry is currently much larger than that from philanthropy. Nevertheless philanthropy, even with limited dollars, is able to play a catalytic function and provide risk capitol for innovative partnerships and could in the future play an even larger role if the value of such investment is better defined and argued to recruit additional dollars to this area.