Stanford-Coulter Translational Research Grants Program
About the Program
The Stanford-Coulter Translational Research Grants Program promotes, develops and supports translational research—that which applies to existing clinical problems or unmet clinical needs. Its mission is to move medicine forward by turning collaborative projects into affordable, life-saving products. This mission is carried out in the spirit of Wallace Henry Coulter, an inventor who applied engineering principles to scientific medical research and pioneered the automation of the labor-intensive process of testing and counting blood cells.
The program funds projects proposed by multidisciplinary teams of biomedical engineers and clinical scientists. The devices, diagnostic procedures and treatments that result from the work of these teams are intended to lead to patents, spawn startup biomedical companies and/or be transferred through licensing agreements to existing companies. The Stanford-Coulter program also seeks to raise awareness—on campus and beyond—of the importance of translational research through multidisciplinary collaboration. Every aspect of the program is designed to increase, enhance, and accelerate this process.
Stanford University brings together top-notch clinical research and a tradition of innovation on its campus in the heart of Silicon Valley, the technology capital of the world. This unique position, along with support from the Coulter foundation, will allow awardees to quickly and expertly meet the challenges and needs facing medicine today.
The Stanford-Coulter Translational Research Grants Program awards up to $800,000 a year to Bioengineering faculty members and their clinician researcher collaborators from the School of Medicine. Together, these teams of co-investigators work to develop new technologies that address unmet clinical needs, improve health care and lead to commercially available products.
For translational grant programs, successful projects typically have established proof of concept for their innovation. We strongly encourage applicants to discuss their proposal with Program Director, Gordon Saul (gsaul@stanford.edu) prior to submission. RENEWAL APPLICATIONS WELCOME!
NCE
For current awarded project teams who need to apply for a No Cost Extension (NCE), please fill out this Form and return to Linda Luciann (llucian@stanford.edu) and Lauren Brown (lbrown36@stanford.edu).
Oversight Committee
The Oversight Committee 2023-2024 includes members from the biomedical engineering and Stanford University community, as well as Silicon Valley venture capitalists and industry leaders. The committee is responsible for selecting projects and assisting awardees with issues related to business planning, licensing and patents.
- Markus Covert, PhD — Bioengineering Department Chair, Coulter Award Program Chair
- Gordon Saul, MBA — SoM, Coulter Program Director, Byers Center for Biodesign
- Josh Makower, MD, MBA — SoM, and Director and Founder Byers Center for Biodesign
- Jennifer J Cochran, PhD— Senior Associate Vice Provost for Research, Professor of Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering
- Jeff Bird, MD, PhD — Partner, Sutter Hill Ventures and Director, Bluebird Ventures
- Karin Immergluck, PhD — Director, Stanford Office of Technology Licensing
- Kevin Grimes, MD, MBA — SoM, Chemical and Systems Biology; Co-Director, SPARK Program
- Mark Blumenkranz, MD — SoM, Ophthalmology and Managing Director, Lagunita Biosciences
- Wende Hutton, MBA — General Partner, Canaan Partners
- Andrew Cleeland — CEO, Fogarty Innovation