Licensing & Ventures Group

UVA Translational Research Funds

The Licensing & Ventures Group plays an integral role in UVA’s sophisticated translational research infrastructure.

Translational research involves moving knowledge and discovery gained from the basic sciences to its application in clinical and community settings. 

UVA has three ongoing philanthropically funded translational research programs that support biomedical innovation. While each fund has different parameters and oversight, all proposals are evaluated based on their potential path to delivering improvements in healthcare.

Across the three programs:

  • 116 total transactions
  • 353 total applications
  • 250 total issued patents

Coulter Translational Research Project

  • Year Founded: 2006
  • Applications: 227
  • Projects Funded: 92

The mission of the Coulter Translational Partnership program is to promote, develop, and support translational research collaborations between biomedical engineers and clinicians in order to accelerate the successful translation of appropriate innovations to improve patient care. 

The Coulter program cultivates, evaluates and funds promising translational projects with the goal of moving innovative technologies to clinical application through commercialization. Projects are supported and mentored by a team of professionals that provide the additional guidance and expertise necessary to reach a successful commercial endpoint. This program was endowed by the Coulter Foundation for $10MM and matched by UVA.

Researchers discussing

Coulter Translational Research Partnership

All too often, innovations in biomedical engineering that could significantly improve the healthcare of people around the world never enter the marketplace. The University of Virginia has joined forces with the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation in a groundbreaking effort to address the root causes of this bottleneck and commercialize promising treatments and techniques.

engineering.virginia.edu

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David Chen

Coulter Program Director and Instructor in Design

lvg.virginia.edu/david-chen

Ivy Biomedical Innovation Fund

  • Year Founded: 2008
  • Applications: 278
  • Projects Funded: 62

The Biomedical Innovation Fund was created by The Ivy Foundation to support biomedical innovation and translational research projects. The goal of this program is to support research projects that address unmet clinical needs and lead to improvements in health care. Examples of desirable outcomes include improved diagnosis and treatment of disease through inventions and patents, commercial products, commercial partnerships, licenses and start-up companies. Funding is from the Ivy Foundation and the School of Medicine.

Ivy Biomedical Innovation Fund

The Ivy Biomedical Innovation Fund was created by The Ivy Foundation to support biomedical innovation and translational research projects at the University of Virginia. The program plans to make 5 awards averaging $100K each for 12 months.

research.virginia.edu

LaunchPad for Diabetes

  • Year Founded: 2009
  • Applications: 130
  • Projects Funded: 75

The LaunchPad for Diabetes Fund was created by a gift from Paul and Diane Manning to support collaborative research projects proposing innovative solutions for the treatment of Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes at the University of Virginia. The goal of this program is to support/develop translational research projects that address unmet clinical needs and lead to improvements in care of patients with diabetes mellitus. 

The LaunchPad program also funds the LaunchPad for Diabetes Ignite program that provides pilot seed funding to support research projects. This Program provides support for research that is likely to lead to a full LaunchPad proposal, NIH grants or other funding opportunities

The program has $1M annually for awards in three categories:

·       $200K for a 24 month project

·       $100K for a 12 month project

·       $40K for a 6-9 month project

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Sharon Krueger

Program Director for Ivy Foundation and LaunchPad

lvg.virginia.edu/sharon-krueger

COVID-19 Translational Research Funds

The global COVID-19 pandemic also spurred the creation of two additional UVA translational research funds.

Manning Fund for COVID-19 Research

The Manning Fund is an innovation fund co-managed by the Provost and the VPR offices to support research focused on testing, therapies, vaccines, and ways to reopen society.

research.virginia.edu

Ivy Foundation COVID-19 Translational Research Fund

The Charlottesville-based Ivy Foundation committed $2 million to accelerate biomedical research focused on COVID-19 at the University of Virginia in 2020. The Ivy Foundation COVID-19 Translational Research Fund supports critical research that addresses COVID-19 diagnosis, treatment options, vaccine development and healthcare worker protection needs.

research.virginia.edu