NIA Research and Entrepreneurial Development Immersion (REDI): Entrepreneurship Enhancement Award (R25 Independent Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
Funding Agency:
- National Institutes of Health
NIA is seeking applications proposing innovation-focused programs that are geared towards imparting a broad set of skills and knowledge required for a career in translational sciences and entrepreneurship in order to boost the number of Ph.D.-trained scientists prepared and ready for a multitude of available career options. This skillset and knowledge base include scientific communication; an understanding of the intellectual property process and landscape; regulatory and reimbursement pathway knowledge; the ability to identify unmet needs within markets and define value propositions; and a clear understanding of the biomedical development path, financing sources, and challenges.
Program participants must receive structured education wherein translational aging and/or Alzheimer's disease (AD) and AD-related dementias (ADRD) research is combined with training in entrepreneurship and business development. The training in experimental research is expected to be supplemented with seminars, invited lectures, and networking with industry. The development of research education programs through this FOA intends to address the need for an increased number of scientists that possess the broad skillset required for initial success in non-research positions and for some of the translational and non-research activities that are now a part of many research faculty positions.
Research Education Program Structure
Applications will be accepted from eligible organizations, outlined in Section III. Eligibility Information, that propose outstanding opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, as well as early career master's degree, Ph.D., and Dr.P.H. scientists, to participate in an intensive, mentored entrepreneurial education experience during their training. While graduate students and postdoctoral researchers represent the intended target participant populations, the research education programs can also be offered to faculty and undergraduates, as appropriate. Applicants should consider how the developed programs can optimize participation and potentially include additional participants in the aging and AD/ADRD research fields from outside the applicant institution, especially those in local and/or affiliated institutions. Applicants must demonstrate how this program will add significant value over existing programs at the applicant institution.
Applications must include a Recruitment Plan to Enhance Diversity. The plan should include outreach strategies and activities designed to recruit prospective participants from diverse backgrounds, including those from populations described in the Notice of NIH's Interest in Diversity (NOT-OD-20-031).
Each institution must have a unique program structure that maximizes resources, departments, and faculty at the applicant institution. Applicants are encouraged to propose collaborations involving both scientific and business departments, as well as to consider collaborations with affiliated and/or local institutions, as appropriate. All programs should include extensive entrepreneurship and commercialization internship or shadowing opportunities for participants, and all participants should be thoroughly educated in foundational concepts of business fundamentals and commercialization. Supported activities should be restricted to those that will equip the participant with skills that will allow them to obtain a strong background for business development and commercialization.
Applicants are also encouraged to partner with existing NIH-funded, or other federally funded, resources and programs and leverage existing entrepreneurial training activities from both federal and private-sector partners, such as the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps™); the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences' Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA); and the NIH Proof of Concept Network which encompasses the NIH Centers for Accelerated Innovations (NCAI), NIH Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hubs (REACH), and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences' IDeA Regional Technology Transfer Accelerator Hubs.
It is required that the proposed program align with the mission of NIA. Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the NIA Scientific/Research Contact, provided in Section VII. Agency Contacts, early in the application preparation phase to discuss the application.
Application budgets should not exceed $250,000 in direct costs per year and need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project.
November 15, 2022
Saroj Regmi, Ph.D.; National Institute on Aging (NIA); Email: niasmallbusiness@mail.nih.gov