Contents
- 1 Alfred Mann Institute
- 2 Alfred Mann Institute Innovation in Engineering Doctoral Fellowship
- 3 Blackstone Launchpad USC
- 4 CATALYST Allied Minds and Bristol-Myers Squibb
- 5 Coulter Translational Research Partnership Pilot Program
- 6 Coulter Translational Research Partnership Seed Program
- 7 I-Corps
- 8 Mousetrap Fund (Viterbi)
- 9 New Venture Seed Competitions (Marshall School)
- 10 Stevens Innovator Showcase
- 11 Pfizer’s Centers for Therapeutic Innovation (CTI)
- 12 Ming Hsieh Institute for Research of Engineering-Medicine for Cancer
- 13 Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI)
- 14 USC Stevens Center for Innovation Technology Advancement Grant (TAG)
- 15 USC Stevens Center for Innovation Start-Up Investment Program
- 16 Viterbi Venture Fund
Alfred Mann Institute
Description
The Alfred Mann Institute bridges the gap between biomedical innovation and the creation of commercially successful medical products to improve and save lives. AMI-USC partners with researchers throughout the university to help develop, validate, patent, license, and translate biomedical technology and innovations into startups with external investment.
Requirements and Eligibility
AMI-USC seeks technologies with clinical and commercial potential
Website
http://ami.usc.edu
Alfred Mann Institute Innovation in Engineering Doctoral Fellowship
Amount
$33,000 stipend and tuition remission
Description
The Alfred Mann Institute bridges the gap between biomedical invention and the creation of commercially successful medical products that improve and save lives. As part of its continuing commitment to innovation in engineering AMI USC is funding three PhD fellowships in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.
Requirements and Eligibility
For Engineering doctoral students conducting interdisciplinary research in biology, medicine, or engineering.
Website
http://ami.usc.edu/ami-fellowships/
Blackstone Launchpad USC
Amount
Up to $15,000 for first prize
Description
Blackstone Launchpad is a campus-based entrepreneurship program and national pitch competition designed to support and mentor students, staff, and alumni in all disciplines. This program invites applicants to participate in an annual demo day. It also has a USC specific online platform for students to develop ideas, grow teams, and connect with mentors.
Requirements and Eligibility
USC students (including graduate students) and recent graduates
Deadline and Application Timeline
Occurs annually
Website
https://www.blackstonelaunchpad.org/
https://usc.ideator.com/sign_up
CATALYST Allied Minds and Bristol-Myers Squibb
Amount
$12-16M per program
Description
CATALYST is an exciting new program launched by Allied-Bristol Life Sciences (ABLS), a joint venture of global pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb and venture builder Allied Minds, to identify and develop commercially-promising biopharmaceutical innovations from leading universities and research institutions. Launched in 2014, ABLS provides world-class expertise in drug development, access to a fully integrated drug discovery and development center (with medicinal chemistry, biological assays, animal models, pharmacology, toxicology capabilities, etc.) as well as seasoned management and the necessary financial backing to bring transformational academic discoveries to patients.
Requirements and Eligibility
Proposals should be in one of the following strategic areas of interest: Immuno-oncology, Oncology, Immunoscience, Cardiovascular, Genetically-defined diseases, and Fibrosis
Deadline and Application Timeline
Applications due at the first of each month and are accepted on a rolling basis
Website
http://www.ablifescience.com/catalyst.
Contact
Mina Zio (mzion@usc.edu)
Coulter Translational Research Partnership Pilot Program
Amount
Up to $100,000
Description
The USC Coulter Translational Research Partnership Program supports and funds translational projects that focus on applying developed technologies to solve an unmet or underserved clinical need. Project proposals at all stages of development from concept to implementation are invited for assessment, although the program does not fund discovery research (the creation of new knowledge). This program supports projects that enable novel clinical treatments through groundbreaking biomedical engineering discoveries. You can use these funds to generate preliminary data, acquire validation data, or develop your business by generating business plans and commercialization strategies. Additionally, you will also have access to USC Coulter’s interdisciplinary product development teams who can help you create, develop, and/or de-risk your project.
Requirements and Eligibility
Applicants from all schools are welcome
The Coulter team will help identify BME and/or clinical collaborators
Deadline and Application Timeline
December 31st: Letter of Intent
Website
https://bme.usc.edu/research/coulter/programs-services/#pilotfundingContact
Contact
tuanqhoa@usc.edu
Coulter Translational Research Partnership Seed Program
Amount
Up to $25,000
Description
The Seed Program creates, develops, and/or de-risks translational projects. Funds can be used to generate preliminary data, acquire more substantial validation data, obtain expert advice to address a defined risk, develop a business case or substantiate clinical utility, generate product development and commercialization strategies, etc. Awards are intended to achieve a key milestone or enable a de-risking activity to attract follow-on funding, including but not limited to the Coulter Pilot Program.
Requirements and Eligibility
Applicants from all schools are welcome
Contact
tuanqhoa@usc.edu
I-Corps
Amount
$50,000 (may be used only for customer discovery and travel)
Description
The NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) seven-week program includes five days of in-person instruction and mentorship, as well as weekly two-hour web-based sessions using Lean Startup methodology. Participating teams complete 100 customer interviews and receive $50,000 to use on customer discovery and travel.
Requirements and Eligibility
Applicants should live and work in Southern California, have developed a new technology with commercialization potential, and work or have an interest in healthcare, aerospace, or other industries. Although not required, applicants should have completed ZAP! or BOOM! for the best chance of success. More information about these two free programs can be found below:
ZAP! Program:
Description: The ZAP! Program provides information about commercializing novel technology and gives participating teams the opportunity to complete 5 customer interviews between sessions.
Eligibility: students, faculty, and alumni
Duration: two 4-hour in person sessions separated by one week
Deadline: Occurs monthly at USC
BOOM! Program:
Description: The BOOM! Program focuses on the Lean Startup methodology, especially product-market fit and customer discovery and gives participating teams the opportunity to complete 10 customer interviews between sessions.
Eligibility: students, faculty, and alumni who have completed ZAP!
Duration: two 1-hour webinar sessions separated by one week
Website
http://viterbiinnovation.usc.edu/i-corps-node/
Mousetrap Fund (Viterbi)
Amount
Up to $100,000
Description
The Mousetrap Fund supports USC Viterbi researchers interested in prototyping commercializable research and launching startups.
Requirements and Eligibility
USC Viterbi faculty or researcher
Teams are required to demonstrate evidence of customer discovery through one of a number of ways
Deadline and Application Timeline
April 17, 2017: Letter of Intent
May 15, 2017: Proposal deadline
Website
http://viterbiinnovation.usc.edu/mousetrap-fund/
New Venture Seed Competitions (Marshall School)
Amount
Up to $30,000
Description
This competition includes a rigorous judging and coaching process where finalists pitch their venture idea to a panel of investors, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists in a competition for prize money. Previous winning pitches have focused on a number of different industries.
Requirements and Eligibility
Teams must have at least one current USC student (undergraduate or graduate), or a current USC faculty member or USC alum less than 5 years from graduation
Businesses should not have received more than $100,000 in equity-related capital
Must be in the seed, startup, or early growth stages
Deadline and Application Timeline
February 9: Application Deadline
February 20: Mandatory Training Session
February 28: Quarter-Final Pitches
April 14: Semi-Final Pitches
April 18: Final Pitches
Website
https://www.marshall.usc.edu/departments/lloyd-greif-center-entrepreneurial-studies/venture-competitions/new-venture-seed-competition
Stevens Innovator Showcase
Amount
Up to $10,000 for an individual prize, total prizes = $30,000
Description
The USC Stevens Student Innovator Showcase promotes young entrepreneurs and their cutting-edge business ideas in all disciplines ranging from the arts and social sciences to engineering and medicine. During the daylong event held at USC’s University Park Campus, student teams present and pitch their startup ideas and prototypes to expert judges, competing for cash awards that can help to develop their ideas further. In addition to the cash awards, every student participating in the Student Innovator Showcase received a Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp Small Business Starter Kit valued at $599 per kit, about $20,000 in total.
Requirements and Eligibility
Undergraduate and graduate students in all disciplines
Deadline and Application Timeline
April 2018: Call for applications
October 12, 2018: Showcase
Website
https://stevens.usc.edu/events/student-innovator-showcase/
Pfizer’s Centers for Therapeutic Innovation (CTI)
Amount
Dependent on applicants
Description
CTI is an innovative Pfizer program that partners with leading academic medical centers and patient foundations nationwide to speed the translation of novel targets into potential therapeutics. CTI seeks to identify and partner novel targets with the goal of identifying new compounds and accelerate drug development from validated target to proof-of-mechanism in humans.
Website
https://research.usc.edu/pfizers-center-for-therapeutic-innovation-cti/
Ming Hsieh Institute for Research of Engineering-Medicine for Cancer
Amount
Up to $140,000 per year
Description
The Ming Hsieh Institute seeks proposals that will initiate multi-disciplinary research teams employing computational biology, protein chemistry, physics, chemistry, pharmacology, and/or engineering, for the purpose of developing new treatments or diagnostics for patients with cancer.
Requirements and Eligibility
Team of two or more full-time or research faculty at USC from at least two schools
One must be a physician (MD) whose work includes servicing cancer patients
The Institute supports translational projects such as work in which already developed technologies or therapies are married with clinical patient populations for human testing or pre-clinical animal testing, or proof-of concept projects as a step toward a specific commercialization goal.
Deadline and Application Timeline
Due January 22, 2018: Proposal
May, 2018: Awardees announced
Website
https://research.usc.edu/immunotherapeutics-solicitation/
https://research.usc.edu/files/2016/01/2018-MHI-RFP-Nano-Immuno-072517-FINAL.pdf
For More Information
Melody Tang (Vprsch@usc.edu) (213-821-8163)
Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI)
Amount
$5,000-$50,000
Description
This program awards over $1 million per year to USC and CHLA faculty. It supports all aspects of clinical and translational research, including career development and multidisciplinary team building. The grants fund pilot research projects from individual investigators or small research teams in areas like “Clinical and Community Research” and “Research Process and Methods”
Requirements and Eligibility
1) Full-time faculty members at USC and CHLA as of the date of the award are eligible to apply as PI.
2) Postdocs, residents, fellows, students, and community members can be included as co-Is.
3) International faculty who are non-US citizens/permanent residents must have a USC appointment with a visa to remain in the US for the duration of the proposed project.
Deadline and Application Timeline
Due February 15, 2018: Application deadline
May 2018: final selection
July 1, 2018: funding initiated
Website
https://research.usc.edu/files/2017/12/Pilot-Funding-Announcement-2.pdf
USC Stevens Center for Innovation Technology Advancement Grant (TAG)
Amount
Up to $50,000
Description
Technology Advancement Grants (TAGs) support technologies invented at USC in any discipline that demonstrate strong potential for commercialization. The awards add value to unlicensed USC owned technology, aiming to increase the probability of obtaining a license in the future. These awards are not intended to fund basic research or app development.
Requirements and Eligibility
USC employee
Application must be based on existing IP developed at USC and cannot be licensed, optioned, or subject to any third-party rights at the time of application
Deadline and Application Timeline
January 19, 2018: Letter of Intent
February 20, 2018: Full Proposal Invitations
March 19, 2018: Full Proposal Deadline
April 2-20, 2018: Brief Presentation Period
Website
https://stevens.usc.edu/files/2017/11/USC-Stevens-2018-TAG-Request-for-Proposals-112917.pdf
Contact
Michael Arciero (arciero@usc.edu) (213-821-0942)
USC Stevens Center for Innovation Start-Up Investment Program
Amount
Description
The start-up investment program supports reduces the hurdle for raising start-up funds to pay past patent costs (patent costs incurred by USC Stevens prior to the date of the license agreement with the USC Start-up). USC Stevens will invest in USC start-ups that demonstrate strong potential for success, as assessed by expert advisors, in exchange for equity interests granted to the university. In addition, the assessment will be used to help determine the best pathway for commercialization, and to advise the faculty inventor on business strategy. Companies that qualify as USC start-ups will have the option of applying for additional investments.
Requirements and Eligibility
All qualified USC start-ups
Faculty are expected to meet with the Licensing Associate at USC Stevens to discuss potential pathways for commercialization
Deadline and Application Timeline
Applications accepted on a rolling basis
Website
http://stevens.usc.edu/files/2016/11/USC-Stevens-Start-Up-Investment-Program-Announcement.pdf
Contact
Michael Arciero, Director of Licensing (arciero@stevens.usc.edu) (213-821-0942)
Viterbi Venture Fund
Amount
Not declared
Description
The Viterbi Venture Fund (VVF) is a new program to support the local ecosystem by investing in our own teams and entrepreneurs.
Requirements and Eligibility
Team are required to demonstrate evidence of customer discovery prior to applying (sponsored research funding, completion of a national/regional NSF I-Corps program, investment from corporate venture arms)
Deadline and Application Timeline
November: Application deadline
Website
http://viterbiinnovation.usc.edu/viterbi-venture-fund/