The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health established a collaboration designed to give NIH-funded researchers training to help them evaluate their scientific discoveries for commercial potential. The aim is to accelerate biomedical innovations into applied health technologies.

I-Corps at NIH is a pilot of the NSF Innovation Corps program specially tailored for biomedical research. Academic researchers and entrepreneurs with Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Phase I awards from participating NIH institutes will be eligible to apply to I-Corps at NIH. NIH will begin outreach to the small business research community with a June 25 program briefing at the 2014 BIO International Convention in San Diego, and a webinar on July 2.

The I-Corps Teams curriculum is a nine-week boot camp in which experienced business-savvy instructors work closely with teams of researchers to help them explore potential markets for their federally funded innovations. I-Corps instructors take a scientific method-based approach to customer discovery that resonates with scientists and engineers. While I-Corps instructors typically have a wide range of expertise, I-Corps at NIH will be taught by instructors who have biomedical business experience.

For more information about NSF I-Corps, visit http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/i-corps

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