January 10, 2020

New award for 2020 supports technology transfer

Teifei Dong, from the U-M Office of Tech Transfer, speaks during a panel session on technology transfer and commercialization during the 2019 JI Symposium in Beijing.

With an expanded call for research proposals, the Michigan Medicine-Peking University Health Science Center (PKUHSC) Joint Institute is looking to help investigators bring their new technologies away from of the bench and nearer to the bedside.

New for 2020, one-year Joint Institute (JI) Innovation Bridge Awards will offer U-M investigators and their PKUHSC partners up to $100,000 to accelerate the translation of their research into a viable commercial product. The new grant category, offered in addition to traditional Discovery and Pilot awards, is part of an increasing emphasis at the JI on technology transfer and industry partnerships.

“The long-term goal for the JI has always been on translational research,” said Michigan Medicine Director of Asia Programs Amy Huang. “After 10 years, thanks to our dedicated investigators, we have this incredible foundation of research at the JI. For us, the next step is to help our teams capitalize on that body work. We hope these new Innovation Bridge Awards will enable our teams and their patients realize the full benefit their discoveries.”

The U-M Office of Technology Transfer, along with the counterpart office at PKUHSC, will help facilitate the Innovation Bridge Award grants review process. The 2020 Joint Institute call for proposals is now open, with letters of intent due by Feb. 28 and invitations to submit full proposals expected in March.