CLINICAL FAST FORWARD AWARDS

Applications for these grants will be accepted starting Monday, April 7 and must be submitted online by June 1, 2008.  The award expected start date is January 1, 2009. Award decisions will be communicated to applicants by July 1, 2008.

Clinical Fast Forward grants are designed to bring promising new clinical techniques from other sites (national or international) to CIMIT Consortium member institutions. To be considered for this award, a project must involve direct patient care. Fast Forward grants are specifically designed to change the way care is delivered to patient populations. New laboratory and basic science techniques will not be considered. This grant provides funding up to $25,000 direct cost to help the successful applicant travel and learn at a leading center, practice the new skill/technique in a laboratory setting (if necessary), and obtain proctoring when performing the first clinical cases at a CIMIT site. N.B., This grant cannot be used for purchases of capital equipment, and one-to-one matching (financial or in-kind) is required from the sponsoring department. Proposals for Clinical Fast Forward grants are due June 1, 2008.  

Review Criteria:

• An enthusiastic champion
• Novel technology/therapy not currently available in a CIMIT consortium institution
• Enthusiastic support of division/department chief
• Collaborative nature of the project, including a willingness to share knowledge/experience within the consortium institution, and across consortium members as appropriate
• A clear plan for evaluation of clinical and economic impact of the new technology/therapy

CIMIT Standard Review Criteria:

All CIMIT proposals will be evaluated for fit with the CIMIT mission and the following criteria:

• Programmatic fit within an existing CIMIT program area, or desirable expansion to an important new area within the CIMIT mission
• CIMIT does not fund projects in drug development, information- technology-centric areas, basic research, or clinical trials
• Collaborative nature of the project (inter-disciplinary/ inter-institutional)
• CIMIT does not support projects in areas of well-established, large-scale multidisciplinary collaboration, such as MRI pulse sequence development
• CIMIT track-record of previously CIMIT-funded applicants
• Intellectual property history and opportunities
• CIMIT support is essential to success (i.e., the project could not be done without CIMIT support)
• Potential exit strategies for the project including future alternative funding sources, contacts with companies, licensing and venturing opportunities
• Probability of clinical adoption, if the project is concluded successfully
• The project does not fit another established funding mechanism
• CIMIT does not fund projects for which corporate sponsorship or federal (NIH or other agencies) sponsorship is appropriate
• It is likely that CIMIT can provide facilitation support, in addition to funding
  
  

See Fast Forward Awards from previous years