About the Program
The proceeds of a grant from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation are being used to support collaborative translational research projects that involve co-investigators from the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) and a clinical department.
GOAL: The goal of this program is to support collaborative research that addresses unmet clinical needs and leads to improvements in health care and to commercial products.
EXAMPLES: Examples of desirable outcomes include inventions, patents, improved diagnosis and treatment of disease, commercial partnerships, start-up companies and follow-on funding targeted toward these same outcomes.
UNIQUE FEATURES: Distinctive aspects of the Coulter Program include the business assessment work that dovetails with technical milestones for each project and the semi-annual meetings of all Coulter Program Directors and BME Chairs from participating universities. These meetings bring together partner schools that work collaboratively to leverage expertise and networks, and to share best practices.
Project selection and progression often involves market assessment, intellectual property, regulatory strategy, reimbursement, and product development activities. The program also relies heavily upon the Coulter Oversight Committee at Michigan for project selection, monitoring, and mentoring.
Endowments are available to all participating schools demonstrating outstanding performance and a sustainable translational research culture by the end of the program in 2011.