TY - JOUR
T1 - I-Corps@NCATS trains clinical and translational science teams to accelerate translation of research innovations into practice
AU - Nearing, Kathryn
AU - Rainwater, Julie
AU - Neves, Stacey
AU - Bhatti, Pamela
AU - Conway, Bruce
AU - Hafer, Nathaniel
AU - Harter, Kevin
AU - Kenyon, Nicholas
AU - McManus, Margaret M.
AU - McNeal, Demetria M.
AU - Morrato, Elaine H.
AU - Rajguru, Suhrud M.
AU - Wasko, Molly
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Association for Clinical and Translational Science 2020.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Introduction: A key barrier to translation of biomedical research discoveries is a lack of understanding among scientists regarding the complexity and process of implementation. To address this challenge, the National Science Foundation’s Innovation CorpsTM (I-CorpsTM) program trains researchers in entrepreneurship. We report results from the implementation of an I-CorpsTM training program aimed at biomedical scientists from institutions funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). Methods: National/regional instructors delivered 5-week I-Corps@NCATS short courses to 62 teams (150 individuals) across six institutions. Content included customer discovery, value proposition, and validating needs. Teams interviewed real-life customers and presented the value of innovations for specific end-users weekly, culminating in a “Finale” featuring their refined business thesis and business model canvas. Methodology was developed to evaluate the newly adapted program. National mixed-methods evaluation assessed program implementation, reach, effectiveness using observations of training delivery and surveys at Finale (n = 55 teams), and 3-12 months post-training (n = 34 teams). Results: Innovations related to medical devices (33%), drugs/biologics (20%), software applications (16%), and diagnostics (8%). An average of 24 interviews was conducted. Teams reported increased readiness for commercialization over time (83%, 9 months; 14%, 3 months). Thirty-nine percent met with institutional technology transfer to pursue licensing/ patents and 24% pursued venture capital/investor funding following the short courses. Conclusions: I-Corps@NCATS training provided the NCATS teams a rigorous and repeatable process to aid development of a business model based on customer needs. Outcomes of this pilot program support the expansion of I-CorpsTM training to biomedical scientists for accelerating research translation.
AB - Introduction: A key barrier to translation of biomedical research discoveries is a lack of understanding among scientists regarding the complexity and process of implementation. To address this challenge, the National Science Foundation’s Innovation CorpsTM (I-CorpsTM) program trains researchers in entrepreneurship. We report results from the implementation of an I-CorpsTM training program aimed at biomedical scientists from institutions funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). Methods: National/regional instructors delivered 5-week I-Corps@NCATS short courses to 62 teams (150 individuals) across six institutions. Content included customer discovery, value proposition, and validating needs. Teams interviewed real-life customers and presented the value of innovations for specific end-users weekly, culminating in a “Finale” featuring their refined business thesis and business model canvas. Methodology was developed to evaluate the newly adapted program. National mixed-methods evaluation assessed program implementation, reach, effectiveness using observations of training delivery and surveys at Finale (n = 55 teams), and 3-12 months post-training (n = 34 teams). Results: Innovations related to medical devices (33%), drugs/biologics (20%), software applications (16%), and diagnostics (8%). An average of 24 interviews was conducted. Teams reported increased readiness for commercialization over time (83%, 9 months; 14%, 3 months). Thirty-nine percent met with institutional technology transfer to pursue licensing/ patents and 24% pursued venture capital/investor funding following the short courses. Conclusions: I-Corps@NCATS training provided the NCATS teams a rigorous and repeatable process to aid development of a business model based on customer needs. Outcomes of this pilot program support the expansion of I-CorpsTM training to biomedical scientists for accelerating research translation.
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U2 - 10.1017/cts.2020.561
DO - 10.1017/cts.2020.561
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85103449131
SN - 2059-8661
VL - 5
JO - Journal of Clinical and Translational Science
JF - Journal of Clinical and Translational Science
IS - 1
M1 - e66
ER -