Technologies that accelerate the pace of biomedical research often exist in a single lab but could be of great benefit to other researchers if more broadly available. In many cases, technologies that have high value for the research enterprise do not have a viable commercialization path, and the originating laboratories have limited resources for their dissemination. The goal of this FOA is to facilitate non-commercial dissemination of cutting-edge, impactful imaging and biomedical engineering technologies from individual labs to the broader research community.
Technologies proposed for dissemination under this FOA should be highly relevant to one of the technology development mission areas of NIBIB, including imaging or bioengineering devices, and biomedical software, methods, and imaging agents. Technologies should be novel and should have been prototyped and validated, ideally through peer-reviewed publications, and their high potential value to a user base should be evident in the application. The intent of this FOA is to support lab-to-lab transfer of novel biomedical technologies for which a commercial dissemination route is not a feasible option.
Projects should focus on transforming functioning prototypes into reliable, broadly usable tools and disseminating them to end users. This transformation could require minor technical improvements customized to meet end user’s needs, but improvements should be within the scope of the prototyped technology and limited to applying proven techniques or existing resources. New technology development will not be supported under this FOA. Other allowable activities may include, but are not limited to, quality control and scale-up production necessary for beyond-the-lab dissemination, implementing methods on different hardware platforms, training for effective use of the technology, etc. Tool dissemination should begin no later than halfway into the project period.
The following are representative, but non-exclusive, examples of responsive applications:
- Provide unique electronic or optical units, systems, sub-systems or devices customized to fit the needs of a broad user base.
- Extend signal acquisition or image reconstruction methods across different hardware platforms.
- Design and develop interactive visualization interfaces, tutorials, and dissemination activities to broaden the use of computational models and analytical tools for multiple use cases.
- Provide diagnostic and therapeutic biomaterials, pre-cursors, or contrast agents to other research labs with instructions for optimal use.
Projects proposing development of novel or non-validated technologies are not responsive to this FOA, and applicants are encouraged to consider funding through other FOAs such as the NIH Research Project Grant Program (R01). Projects proposing activities directed toward commercialization are not responsive to this FOA, and applicants are encouraged to consider funding through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program or the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program. Projects proposing the delivery of new technologies through academic-industry partnership are not responsive to this FOA, and applicants are encouraged to consider funding through the Bioengineering Research Partnership (BRP) program. Projects proposing clinical trials, service using existing equipment, or do not involve actual dissemination of technologies are not responsive to this FOA.
The following are additional examples of projects that are not responsive to this FOA:
- Applications that involve clinical trials or provide patient services.
- Applications with the scope of a large-scale service center or a component of a center grant.
- Applications that solely support workshops for knowledge dissemination.
- Applications that focus on standardization for the purpose of dissemination.
- Applications to provide services using existing equipment.
- Applications that do not focus on dissemination of technologies.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to consult with the Scientific/Research Contact listed below to discuss the relevance of their proposed work to this FOA before developing an application.
Deadline: February 27, 2019 (letters of intent due 30 days prior to deadline)
URL: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-EB-18-002.html
Filed Under: Funding Opportunities