About the Coulter Program

BME/Research/Translational Research/About the Coulter Program

About the Program

Established with a $20M endowment, the U-M Biomedical Engineering Department’s Coulter Translational Research Partnership Program supports research directed at promising technologies within research laboratories that are progressing towards commercial development and clinical practice. The Coulter Program provides funding and supports collaborative research that addresses unmet clinical needs and leads to improvements in health care with new commercial products. Examples of desirable outcomes include inventions, patents, improved diagnosis and treatment of disease, commercial partnerships, start-up companies, and follow-on funding targeted toward these same outcomes.

$544M

FOLLOW ON PROFESSIONAL FUNDING

20

LICENSES/EXITS

9

PRODUCT LAUNCHES

Each project funded through Coulter will need to demonstrate:

  • The project must relate to the development of medical products with clinical applications in human healthcare.
  • The research should be beyond “basic/fundamental” stage and be ready to begin translation into a commercial product.
  • Coulter-funded projects require Co-PI collaborations between at least one U-M faculty healthcare provider (physicians, nurses, or dentists) and at least one UM College of Engineering faculty member both with project-relevant expertise.
  • Only permanent, full-time faculty in the professorial ranks (assistant, associate, full, or research) at the University of Michigan may apply.
  • Translational research plans to de-risk technical hurdles leading towards early-stage product and business development.
  • At a minimum, faculty must have submitted an invention disclosure with the University of Michigan office of Innovation Partnerships.
  • Any IP will need to be currently managed by or assigned to the University of Michigan.

(For the last two bullets, if you are not sure or if you have not yet filed an invention disclosure, please contact the Coulter team. They can work with you and Innovation Partnerships to confirm and accomplish those steps.) Proposals demonstrating the ability to meet these objectives will receive greater consideration for support and funding awards.