BACKGROUND

One of the goals of UTMB Health is to support and promote technology transfer and commercialization of research discoveries. The Technology Commercialization Program (TCP) provides seed funds to support the commercialization of discoveries created at the UTMB Health. The funds for this program are made available from the UTMB Health President’s Royalty Fund. Through a partnership between the Chief Research Office and The Office of Technology Transfer, this program is usually offered twice a year in the fall and spring. The distribution of funds will be handled by the Office of Sponsored Programs.

Pre-proposal packages must be electronically submitted to Dr. Mattamana sumattam@utmb.edu no later than 5:00 PM on the due date (October 9, 2020). At that point, the package will be reviewed by the TCP committee for its relevance to the TCP mission, and suitable concepts will be invited by October 26, 2020 for full application using the guidelines found in the full program description here.

ELIGIBILITY

• All UTMB employees, students, staff and trainees are eligible to submit the application to the UTMB Health TCP.
• The product to be developed and commercialized is based upon UTMB owned Technology and has the potential to provide meaningful healthcare benefits, or viable commercial product(s).
• A UTMB Invention Disclosure (ID) Form describing the technology must be submitted to the Office of Technology Transfer 15 days prior to the due date of the pre-proposal.

FUNDING AVAILABLE

A project can be awarded up to a maximum of $50,000 for a year. Funding awards will range between $10K and $50K. An awardee will be eligible for a competitive renewal during the next funding period. Committee members will base renewals on the milestones achieved and adequate progress shown during the first funding period.  Awards are anticipated to be made by January 11, 2021.

PRE-APPLICATION WORKSHOPS

Prospective applicants are invited to attend an introductory workshop presented by the Office of Technology Transfer and the ITS Innovation & Entrepreneurship Studio. These interactive sessions will provide information about the Technology Commercialization Program and guidance for preparing a competitive proposal.  Workshops will be held virtually on September 10th and 24th from 12:00-1:00pm. To register, please contact Lanette Harris: ldharris@utmb.edu.

TIMELINE

Please contact Dr. Nisha J Garg (E: nigarg@utmb.edu) or Dr. Sundeep Mattamana (E: sumattam@utmb.edu) for any questions or further information.