Do you ever wonder if your research has commercial value? Or how a scientific discovery becomes a drug, device, or diagnostic tool?
The translation of new knowledge into products that will improve people's health is full of challenges that can take years to overcome. Sometimes researchers do not recognize the true potential of their projects, or they seek to solve Problem A when patients really want a solution to Problem B. Finding the right collaborator and/or funding to move a breakthrough biomedical or bioengineering idea to the next stage can hinder advances in health care as well.
To address these challenges to commercialization, the CCTS offers the following supports:
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HSE Grand Rounds
The Health Sciences Entrepreneurship Grand Rounds seminar series is a collaboration among the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the University of Kansas Medical Center, and the University of Utah (all Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program institutions), and University of Tennessee Health Science Center. HSE Grand Rounds presentations are scheduled for the second Friday of each month. -
I-Corps@NCATS Training
Building on the highly successful National Science Foundation (NSF) I-CorpsTM methodology, which takes a business-inspired approach to research, CCTS has developed a new curriculum that helps clinical and translational investigators evaluate their discoveries for commercial potential. The approach has been adopted by the National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS) to help the nation's biomedical scientists and engineers extend their focus beyond the lab and so broaden the impact of their science.
We offer four-week I-Corps@NCATS Bootcamps every fall and host an annual five-week regional training that prepares research teams to compete for a $50,000 grant in the national I-Corps program.
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Innovation Panels (iPanels)
For researchers who have potentially marketable discoveries and wish to explore the commercialization pathway, we offer our iPanel. A CCTS iPanel will help you chart the way forward, whether you are looking for access to experts in tech transfer and business development or help refining a novel idea, reaching potential customers, or developing entrepreneurial skills.
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Collaboration Opportunities
CCTS offers access to potential collaborators via our 11-institution Partner Network as well as through our connections with local, regional, and national research consortia.
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Funding
We offer support in proposal development, including NIH SBIR/STTR and foundation grants. Our Multidisciplinary Partner Network Pilot Program provides up to $60,000 in direct costs for research consistent with the CCTS mission at any stage along the path from the biological basis of health and disease to interventions that improve the health of individuals and the public.
Questions?
Do you need immediate assistance with commercialization? Contact us at ccts@uab.edu or 205-934-7442.