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Description
Catalyst Awards for the Development of
Diagnostics, Devices, Therapeutics and Digital Health
Description of Grant Area
The Catalyst Award combines customized expert feedback and advice, with funding to help drive promising early-stage research through the lengthy and complex process of translating ideas into patient benefit. Previous awardees include UCSF investigators whose works span a broad range of innovative concepts in therapeutics, diagnostics, devices and digital health. The expert consultation and funding they received enabled them to advance promising early research findings along the most effective path toward safe and effective medical treatment and health outcomes.
Award Process
The Early Translational Research (ETR) Program, which manages the award, is supported by an exclusive panel of over 90 expert consultants from academia, industry and venture capital. Successful applicants negotiate through three distinct stages to receive critical feedback, expert consulting and funding for their projects:
Stage 1
Review |
The first stage involves a thorough review of the applications by panel members with specific expertise in each category. All applicants receive thoughtful feedback that highlights the promising aspects of their research as well as key gaps that need to be addressed to strengthen their likelihood for progress toward commercial implementation and clinical practice. |
Stage 2
Consultation |
A select number of applicants are granted consultation awards and advance into the second stage. Over the following two months, these applicants are matched with expert panel members who can best help them address the gaps that were identified by the review panels. The awardee and their assigned advisors work together to prepare for the final review meeting. |
Stage 3
Award |
In the final stage, the consultation awardees are invited to present their research, their progress in addressing the reviewer's concerns, and their proposed research plan. The review panel then decides on one or more applicants who will receive a Catalyst Award of up to $100,000 (up to $30,000 for Digital Health). |
Eligibility
Applicants: Principal investigators at UCSF and affiliate institutions qualify for this program including faculty in all series and at all ranks. Residents and Postdoctoral scholars are eligible to submit applications as PI with a faculty member as Co-PI.
Projects: Research projects with early target validation and a clear clinical indication will be eligible for consideration. The therapeutic area can cover any disease where there is an unmet medical need or the potential for significant improvement over current treatments, diagnostics or services. If patents or patent applications have not been filed, there should be a strong potential for obtaining defensible intellectual property.
Proposals will be evaluated on the following:
- Unmet need
- Scientific rationale
- Development feasibility
- Commercial attractiveness
- Intellectual property status, potential position and issues
Estimated Program Review and Award Timeline:
| February 25 |
RAP Application Deadline |
| March |
Announcement of Consultation Awards |
| June |
Announcement of Final Awards |
Contact:
June Lee, MD FACCP
CTSI Director, Early Translational Research
E-mail: june.lee@ucsf.edu
Aenor Sawyer, MD (Digital Health)
Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor
Ph.: 925-866-2660
E-mail: sawyer@orthosurg.ucsf.edu
Ruben Rathnasingham, PhD
CTSI Senior Program Manager, Early Translational Research
Ph.: 415- 514-6207
E-mail: Ruben.Rathnasingham@ucsf.edu
Irina Gitlin, PhD
CTSI Senior Program Manager, Early Translational Research
Ph.: 415- 514-8510
E-mail: Irina.Gitlin@ucsf.edu
Description
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