The second round of the U-M Medical School's Frankel Innovation Initiative (FII) kicked off April 1, 2021, with a call for Letters of Intent due by May 3, 2021.

After Letters of Intent are reviewed by a triage committee, a select group of faculty will be invited to submit a full application for funding consideration.

Made possible by a generous donation from the Maxine and Stuart Frankel Foundation, the Frankel Innovation Initiative is a $20 million fund that was established to advance innovative research by U-M faculty, and their collaborators inside and outside U-M, that has the potential for rapid clinical application and groundbreaking impact.

FII is administered by Fast Forward Medical Innovation and offers one year of funding in the range of $250,000 - $500,000, with the potential for multiple years of funding. Award winners will receive mentorship from industry and technology development experts.

The path to market for a new biomedical product is challenging. It’s not enough to have a deep knowledge of the science. Innovators must be ready to step into the spotlight, showing stakeholders and potential investors clarity of vision and passion.

Join Fast Forward Medical Innovation, together with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), the U-M Office of Technology Transfer, and special guest host, Denise Graves from the MEDC, for this annual event that helps prepare a select group of MTRAC for Life Sciences Innovation Hub teams for commercial readiness as they take the stage to pitch their innovations to the “sharks” of the investment world at the Midwest Growth Capital Symposium.

Michael Burns, M.D., Ph.D.

John Vandervest, M.S.

University of Michigan

Lola Eniola-Adefeso, Ph.D.

University of Michigan

John Farris, Ph.D.

Grand Valley State University

Eric VanMiddendorp, MSE

Spectrum Health Innovations

Looking for feedback and input on your biomedical innovation? Join the Fast Forward Medical Innovation team for Innovation Studio, virtual office hours that give life science innovators of all levels the chance to address project needs, challenges, or questions. Participants can get individual feedback on:

The Innovation Studio is available for 30-minute consultations via Zoom every third Tuesday of the month. The next available consultations will take place Tuesday, April 20, 2021, between 2:00pm-3:30pm. Space is limited.

FFMI fastPACE is a four-week biomedical and commercialization course designed to help participants prepare a successful business case for funding and development partnerships.

Registration is now available for the Spring 2021 cohort, to be held virtually, beginning Friday, April 30, 2021. Sign up today!

Questions? Email Jon Servoss, FFMI Director of Commercialization Education.

Dr. Xuefei Huang at Michigan State University, and his company, Iaso Therapeutics, have received a selective invitation to participate in the National Cancer Center Institute Translational Resources to Expedite Commercialization Success Workshop. Iaso participated in the National workshop on TRECS through the month of March 2021. The workshop will provide SBIR-funded companies, like Iaso, the opportunity to learn how to utilize various federal and non-federal resources to advance the commercialization of their cancer technology.

Medical School faculty still have time–through Monday, April 12–to apply for the 2021-22 Cohort of the R01 Boot Camp, sponsored by the Medical School Office of Research. Boot Camp is an intensive mentorship program designed to help early-career faculty receive their first NIH Research Project Grants (R01, or equivalent).

While developing proposals over a nine-month course, mentees attend a variety of workshops on topics such as grant writing, statistics and study design, budgeting, and constructing components of the grant application.

Michigan Drug Discovery has added a new grant program to its support for U-M researchers. Project Grants represent the third funding opportunity to be offered by Michigan Drug Discovery, in addition to Screening Grants and the SPARC-MDD Partnership Grants. Together, these three grants offer support to drug discovery projects in nearly every stage, from initial screening through late-stage translational research. 

To better navigate the complexities of the U-M biomedical research enterprise, visit the Research Project Lifecycle. This interactive tool provides an overview of the resources available to you, not only within the Medical School Office of Research but also across the University of Michigan.