Coulter Partnership
The goal of the Duke-Coulter Translational Partnership Grant Program is to accelerate the development of promising bioengineering research that address important unmet clinical needs and leads to improvement in in commercial development and clinical practice. Examples of desirable outcomes include inventions, patents, improved diagnosis and treatment of disease, follow-on funding (e.g. grants, SBIR, angel investment) commercial products, licenses, commercial partnerships and/or start-up companies.
Each year, we have a call for proposals. Each translational research proposal must have at least one whose primary or secondary appointment is in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and at least one clinical investigator. The research must relate directly to applications in health care, and the objectives of the project should include an outcome that will benefit patients. Evaluation of each proposal will be on the basis of scientific merit, potential health care impact and significance, experience of the investigators, the potential for commercialization or translation to patient care and for successfully obtaining further support.
Each year we typically award three to five grants. Award amounts vary based upon amount requested and budget evaluation of the Oversight Committee. Typically, we have about $700,000 per year for awards.
Deadlines for the 2012 Grant Cycle:
- April 12 - Proposals due
- April 12 - May 16 - Review of proposals and selection for oral presentations
- June - Oral presentations and selection of grant recipients
- June - Announce winners and launch projects
- July 1 - Launch projects
- October 1 - First quarterly report due
- December 15; - Second quarterly report due
- January 31 - Project update presentation to the Oversight Committee
Program Contacts:
The program is led by Barry Myers, Coulter Translational Partnership Grant Co-PI and Project Director, and professor of biomedical engineering; Wayne Beyer, Coulter Project leader; Lynn Sutton, Coulter Project Leader; and Coulter Staff Assistant, Rachel Karatz. They will assist selected projects with issues related to business planning, licensing and patents.