By Kat Procyk
All great inventions start as an idea, but the process of turning that idea into a reality can be a challenging, years-long process.
The University of Pittsburgh is launching the Pitt Idea Navigation to Commercialization (Pitt.INC) program to help University innovators in Pitt’s Schools of the Health Sciences navigate the crucial first steps to bring their ideas to market. The program offers funding up to $50,000 for health sciences faculty, along with community support through the University’s commercialization ecosystem and a potential pathway to the market.
“Pitt.INC, with its ultimate goal of transforming more Pitt ideas into real-world solutions, provides a ‘win-win,’” said Anantha Shekhar, senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and John and Gertrude Petersen Dean of the School of Medicine at Pitt. “It offers a pathway for developing ideas and gathering evidence to determine their potential for commercialization. It is a point of entry into the ecosystem that takes ideas from bench to bedside, ultimately improving lives.”
Pitt.INC, administered by Pitt’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences, is open to faculty, postdocs, students and staff, with an idea in a life sciences-related field that addresses an unmet need or challenge in human health and disease. The program is part of the University’s larger initiative to bring ideas and discoveries found in the lab closer to products and treatments for patients.
"Pitt innovators have changed the course of medicine time and again,” said Evan Facher, vice chancellor for innovation and entrepreneurship at Pitt. “Many of these breakthroughs began as early-stage ideas that needed resources and partners to bring them to life. Pitt.INC will provide our talented innovators with funding and immersion in the Pitt innovation ecosystem, which will jump-start promising ideas and accelerate the exploration of their potential to make an impact through commercial translation.”
Ideas eligible for Pitt.INC are broad—ranging from a pill, antibody or app—if they show commercial value. Projects accepted by the program are expected to start within one month of the award date and have one year to prove their validity with resources provided by the program and Pitt’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Applications for the program are open and are accepted on a rolling basis. A webinar about Pitt.INC will be held on April 25 at 12 p.m.