WORKING GROUPS GRANTS

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.

Working Groups are inter-disciplinary and inter-institutional teams formed to explore emerging areas of new health care technology. A Working Group seeks to understand current solutions, determine new approaches being developed by industry, and evaluate the potential opportunities for CIMIT to make a major contribution. When such opportunities are identified, members of the Working Group may apply for CIMIT and other funding to further explore projects in this area.

Review Criteria:

• Enthusiastic leader
• Emerging new therapeutic area without clear existing products
• Collaborative nature of the team (inter-disciplinary/inter-institutional)
• Clear explanation of the process for exploring the area

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