2023 Spectrum MedTech Pilot Grants

Spectrum MedTech Pilot Grant Program Overview

Spectrum offers pilot grants for accelerating clinical and translational research in biomedical and health-related areas. The Spectrum Pilot Program has two major goals:

• to stimulate innovative clinical and translational research and
• to encourage collaborative, transdisciplinary work.

The primary expectation of these early-stage translational projects will lead to additional research, external support, information dissemination and most important will develop into longer term comprehensive projects aimed at reaching patient care. Early proof of concept with preliminary data is often a characteristic of successful applications. We encourage transdisciplinary collaborations, but this is not a requirement for funding. The intellectual property of the core technology must be owned by Stanford (not under an option or license to any entity).

Byers Center for Biodesign - Medtech

The Byers Center for Biodesign manages health technology grants for the Spectrum Pilot Grants Program. The defined scope is to support projects involving medical devices, diagnostics and digital health technologies used to diagnose and treat disease. 

Byers Center for Biodesign - MedTech Pilot Grants must have the objective of translating discoveries into novel health technology products that address unmet medical needs. Emphasis will be placed on technologies that have the potential to advance rapidly into patient care through development by venture funded startups, licensing to established companies, or other pathways. Only projects involving Stanford-owned intellectual property will be considered. Examples include prototype device development, preclinical studies, and investigator-initiated pilot clinical studies.

Proposals should specifically address the following:

• Unmet clinical need this project would address, impacted patient population
• What is the envisioned product that would result from this project?  Explain how the product can improve outcomes, lower costs and/or increase access to care
• Technology status, test results, prototypes approach
• Status of intellectual property, (core technology must be owned by Stanford, not licensed), description of ongoing IP strategy/interactions with OTL
• What are major remaining risks for project. May include: a) clinical need b) engineering/science feasibility c) intellectual property d) business/market-competitive landscape
• Proposed specific milestones (per quarter) and research plan for achieving them. How do they address major risks and improve translational prospects for project?
• Translational plan for funding after Spectrum Medtech award expires
   

Amount and Period of Funding:

Typical grants range between $15,000 and $50,000 per year, depending on the specific program and the individual proposal. Funds must be applied to specific tasks that increase the probability of translational success and outside funding and must comply with the Spectrum and NIH-NCATS funding guidelines.

Awards funded through the Spectrum Program will be granted for one year and must be completed within the 12-month award period, July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024.
 

Important Dates:

• Proposal Deadline: Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at 11:59 PM (Pacific Time)
• Finalist Presentations: Tuesday, May 9 (in-person) at 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
• Award Announcements: Friday, May 12, 2023
• Funding Period: July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024 (extensions are not allowed)
   

Institutional representatives:

Not applicable. Because this is an internal Stanford funding opportunity, you do not have to submit your applications through your RPM in RMG or your CGO in OSR for their approval. 
 

Selection Process:

• Proposals will be evaluated by a committee of independent faculty and external reviewers, and awards will be based on individual selection criteria and scoring systems. In general, reviewers will select applications for consideration as finalists that have made convincing arguments that the investigator(s) is proposing a bold idea or approach that can have a major translational impact in translational research.
• The research must relate directly to applications in healthcare, and the objectives of the project should include an outcome that will benefit patients. Evaluation of proposals will be on the basis of innovation and scientific merit, potential health care impact, technical feasibility and the potential for commercialization.
• Finalists will be invited for oral presentations to be held in mid-May.
• Awardees will be notified by Friday, May 12.

2023-24 Spectrum Medtech Oversight Committee

• Max Bikoff, Principal, Longitude Capital
• Leslie Bottorff, Principal, Bottorff Advisors
• Mike Carusi, General Partner, Lightstone Ventures
• Cheryl Cheng, Founding Partner, Vive Ventures
• Andrew Cleeland, CEO Fogarty Innovation
• Alexis Ji, Partner, Illumina Ventures
• Gordon Saul, Executive Director, Stanford Biodesign
• Josh Makower, MD, Director, Biodesign
   

Application Instructions

• Proposal Submission:
  • Applicants must choose a primary program area (i.e., SPARK, Biodesign - Medtech, and Population Health Sciences) for the project and may apply to another area if the project meets criteria for both programs.
  • Please communicate with program staff if it is unclear which program area is the best fit.
  • Projects will be awarded only one Pilot Grant per annual grant cycle.
     
• Application Process:
  • Submit applications through Stanford University Seed Funding’s website.
  • We strongly encourage applicants to share proposal ideas with Spectrum Medtech Program Team, Gordon Saul (gsaul@stanford.edu) and Linda Lucian (llucian@stanford.edu), prior to submission.

Applications should follow the guidelines below:

• Format
  • Page specifications
    • 8.5 x 11” page size
    • At least 0.75” margins on all sides
    • At least 10-point font size
  • Save your documents as PDFs (or Excel for the budget, Word for the budget justification) and upload to the SeedFunding application (online submission)
     
• A cover sheet (1-page limit, upload as a single PDF) that includes:
  • Title of proposal
  • PI name, title, department, and email
  • Co-PI or Co-Investigator names, titles, departments, and emails
  • Office of Technology Licensing (OTL) disclosure (yes/no) and docket number.
  • Amount of funding requested
     
• Body of proposal (4-page limit, upload as a single PDF):
  • Please answer or address the following:
    • What is the envisioned product that would result from this project? Who are the main competitors? Explain how the product can improve outcomes, lower costs and/or increase access to care.
    • What is the current technology status; offer test results, proof of mechanism or prototypes. Status of intellectual property; describe the IP strategy for this technology. Clinical need, impacted population and market opportunity; include competing technologies and approaches
    • Status of intellectual property; describe the IP strategy for this technology and interactions with OTL.
    • General commercial development plan; include a proposed regulatory pathway and the reimbursement/payment approach for this technology.
    • What are major remaining risks for the project? May include a) clinical need b) engineering/science feasibility c) intellectual property d) business/market-competitive landscape.
    • Expected specific milestones with work plan (per quarter) and research plan for achieving them. How does the plan address the major risks and improve the translational prospects for the project?
    • Translational plan for follow on project work and funding post Spectrum Medtech award.
       
  • Also address or include the following:
    • Animals and Human Subjects: Approvals for animals and human subjects should be addressed ahead of the grant-funding period, include protocol numbers or letter of exemption. Approvals are strictly required for funding dispersal and are generally not a valid rationale for no-cost extension requests. For more information on IRB or APLAC protocol submission, please visit http://humansubjects.stanford.edu or https://researchcompliance.stanford.edu/panels/aplac.
      • Please note that the eProtocol application must include Spectrum Pilot Grant under "Other Funding" of the funding section.
      • For human subjects research, project investigators and their research staff must complete the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) training online (Group 7: IRB BioMed/GCP Research for All Medical Investigators and Staff).
    • Current & Pending Funding: Provide a list of current funding related to this project, including internal seed grants obtained and pending proposals for each PI and Co-PI.
       
  • If the project has not already been disclosed to the Office of Technology Licensing (OTL), it is strongly recommended that an Invention and Technology Disclosure be submitted to OTL by the April 5 proposal deadline. See the Inventor Disclosure page located on the OTL site.
     
• Budget (not part of 4-page limit; upload as an Excel file)
  • Use provided budget template here.
  • Allowable expenditures include: investigator’s salary, research personnel salaries, travel (if project-related) and project supplies.
    • Budget should include some measurable effort for Principal Investigators (PIs), Co-PIs, and other personnel performing work (associate director and program manager can advise, if needed).​
  • Unallowable expenditures include: capital equipment costing more than $5,000, intellectual property services, and food.
  • Salaries are capped at the NIH salary cap of $192,300.
  • Do not include indirect cost expenses.
     
• Budget Justification (not part of 4-page limit; upload as a Word file)
  • Use provided justification template here.
  • Your budget justification should provide an explanation of factors used to determine costs on each budget line item in your proposal.
     
• NIH Biosketches: (not part of 4-page limit; upload as a single PDF)
  • Required for the PI, Co-PI(s), Co-I(s), and other senior/key personnel.
    • Senior/key personnel are defined as all individuals who contribute in a substantive, meaningful way to the scientific development or execution of the project.
  • For NIH biosketch template and instructions, refer to link here: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/biosketch.htm.

Notes:

• Figures and tables included within the body of the proposal will count towards the 4-page limit.
• References may be included and are not part of the page limit.
• Do not include appendices to the proposal.
• Applications that do not comply with the requirements will not be considered for review.
• Funding will not be dispersed without clearance of any applicable APLAC, IRB or IRB exemption requirements, highly preferable that clearance is achieved prior to finalist stage in April/May.
• If the research does not involve animals or human subjects, award recipients must provide confirmation.
   

Questions: 

For questions regarding the scope of the proposal, criteria for awards or the review process, contact:

• Biodesign-MedTech Program Manager
   

To apply for a Spectrum MedTech Pilot Grant, please complete and submit this online application. If you have any questions while completing the online application, please contact Ellen Orasa, Pilot Program Manager, at eorasa@stanford.edu.