What is the Columbia-Coulter Translational Research Partnership (CCTRP)?
The Columbia-Coulter Translational Research Partnership (CCTRP) is a university partnership program made possible by a generous grant from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation and support of leadership from the Office of the Executive Vice President for Research and the Office of the Provost. It is led by the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, in collaboration with the Departments of Surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery and Radiology at Columbia University Medical Center, and Columbia Technology Ventures, the technology transfer office of Columbia University. The program’s mission is to position promising biomedical technologies so that they are more attractive to commercial partners who will commit the necessary investment to develop solutions that improve patient outcomes and address underserved healthcare needs.
What does the Coulter Process involve?
- Close work with intellectual property counsel to track the evolution of the design and development of new technology
- Application of business resources to bring downstream product development considerations upstream
- Provision of funds to perform specific, determinative “killer” experiments to get to human studies (as required) and to patients as quickly as possible
- Execution of projects in a managed process with measurable outcomes that will enable a “go/no-go” decision by commercial partners
- Adaption to new information that may take the project down a path to a different application or technical approach or, even, to quit while ahead
How much funding is available?
Up to $700,000 of funding is available to support projects selected in the 2014 cycle, with an additional $300,000 worth of in-kind resources (marketing, regulatory, reimbursement, and legal). There is no funding limit per project. All projects and their budgets are evaluated on their own merits. Generally, the requested budget should be appropriate to the size of the commercial opportunity.
How many projects will be funded?
There is no set number of projects. Historically, 5 to 6 projects have been funded per year.
What can funds be used for?
Funds can be used for salary and fringe benefits for project personnel (other than PIs and Co-PIs), materials and supplies (including animal costs for preclinical studies), consumable equipment (e.g. components for systems), subcontracting/outsourcing technical work, costs for human studies (e.g. IRB fees, patient recruitment fees, etc.), and for travel directly associated with project implementation.
Funds may NOT be used for salary or fringe for PIs or Co-PIs, tuition, space and renovations, indirect costs, or to fund a start-up.
