Innovation Corps Tackles Biomedicine

NSF’s highly successful Innovation Corps program is expanding to reach more biomedical scientists. The White House announced last week that NSF will team up with NIH to offer I-Corps training to biomedical researchers. I-Corps is designed to give scientists intensive training on what it takes to both make a good product and be a good entrepreneur. I-Corps teams get in-person training on how to evaluate their own research for potential product development. The teams are also provided with a mentor who is a successful entrepreneur. The expanded program will give scientists advice specific to biomedicine. While the full details of the expansion are still being worked out, some information has been released. For instance, researchers who have Small Business Innovation Research or Small Business Technology Transfer funding through NIH will be eligible for I-Corps training. NIH Centers for Accelerated Innovation and Research Evaluation & Commercialization Hubs are still being considered as possible I-Corps sites.