The BWH Health & Technology Innovation Fund seeks applications for basic/clinical/translational science-focused as well as commercialization-oriented research projects from scientists and clinicians at Brigham & Women’s Hospital. The Fund is a combined venture supported by the Brigham Research Institute and the BWH Health & Technology Sub-Committee which is composed of friends of the Brigham from the philanthropic, industry and venture capital worlds. The Fund’s goal is to primarily support two kinds of research efforts:

1. Basic, clinical and translational projects that have the scientific merit and novelty to significantly advance the progress of research in their field and;
2. Research or clinical projects that have the commercialization potential to be transformed into innovative products or new services or companies

The Health & Technology Innovation Grants will fund high-reward, high-impact (whether scientific or commercial) projects. Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis with up to a total of five non-renewable $50,000 grants available this year. Applications will be evaluated and ranked for funding priority on the basis of a review process at BWH that will evaluate scientific merit or commercialization potential (depending on the application). Please note that the selection process will involve review by both BWH faculty (clinicians/researchers) as well as non-BWH reviewers including donors, venture capitalists, representatives of the biopharma/device industry and other friends of the Brigham. The final selection round will be a live pitch session featuring the finalists and conducted as a closed door meeting with the review committee in attendance.

Timeline:

Eligibility

• All members of the BWH research community including BWH professional staff (ex. Nurses and other clinicians) and faculty members with instructor rank and above are invited to apply.
• Individuals may serve as the Principal Investigator (PI) of only one proposal but may be co-PIs on multiple proposals
• Co-PIs may be BWH as well as non-BWH members however the Principal Investigator has to be from BWH. Collaborations with other departments at BWH as well as other institutions are encouraged.
• Applications seeking seed funding for planned RO1s, PO1s or similar will be eligible as would those seeking funding to establish a core resource for which there is a demonstrated need at BWH. Applications for equipment will not be considered.
• Finalists MUST be available to participate in both the prep session on Apr 27 as well in the in-person review/live pitch session.
• Recipient must remain at BWH for duration of the award, award may otherwise be forfeited.

Review Process

• Applications will be solicited according to the timeline above. The review committee composed of BWH clinicians and researchers, Partners Innovation staff and non-BWH reviewers including donors, venture capitalists, representatives of the biopharma/device industry and other friends of the Brigham will review the letters of intent (LOI) and invite a subset of applicants to submit full applications
• Following review of the full applications by the review committee, finalists will be invited to the in-person review/live pitch session
• Following the live pitch session, the review committee will submit their funding recommendations to the BRI Executive Committee and the BWH Health & Technology Sub-Committee for approval.

Reciprocity

• All recipients will be obligated to provide a written report of activity (1 page limit) three, six and twelve months from the date on which funds are received and also meet with Brigham Research Institute (BRI) or Brigham Innovation Hub staff to discuss the progress of their project at these time points.
• All recipients will be required to provide an oral status update to the BRI Research Oversight Committee and the BWH Health & Technology Sub-Committee at the end of one year of funding.
• Grantees will notify the BRI when other grants are received as a result of this funding or if papers are published, patents are filed etc. as a result of this funding
• Grantees will acknowledge the Brigham Research Institute (BRI) & the BWH Health & Technology Sub-Committee in publications, posters, grants, press releases and other professional recognition resulting from this funding support and will notify the BRI when such events are due to occur. Grantees will also acknowledge funding support from the BRI and the BWH Health & Technology Sub-Committee in all forums if new companies, products or services are established as a result of this funding.

Application Format

Letters of intent (due January 6, 2015, 11:59pm) should be submitted online (Submit Letter of Intent here) and will include the following:

1. Applicant’s Name, Department and Division, BWH and HMS professional appointments, office or laboratory address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address
2. Type of request: indicate that the application is a “BWH Health & Technology Innovation Fund” proposal
3. Applicant must indicate whether the project has potential for intellectual property/commercial potential (NOTE: The BWH Health & Technology Innovation Fund welcomes basic, clinical and translational projects with scientific merit even if they do not have intellectual property/commercial potential)
4. Title of research project to be supported
5. Applicants must indicate names of collaborators and the institutions they are affiliated to
6. Abstract with a maximum of 250 words. NOTE: Applicants who indicate that their project has intellectual property/commercial potential must indicate whether any invention disclosures, patents etc. have been filed