In a translational medicine initiative, the National Institutes of Health has launched the NIH Centers for Accelerated Innovations (NCAIs), funded by its National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), to target technologies to improve the diagnosis, treatment, management, and prevention of heart, lung, blood, sleep disorders, and diseases.

NHLBI issued grants totaling $31.5 million to establish three inaugural, multi-institution NCAIs: Boston Biomedical Innovation Center (Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard College), Cleveland Clinic Innovation Accelerator (The Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine; Case Western Reserve University; Cincinnati Children’s Hospital; The Ohio State University, Columbus; and University of Cincinnati), and UC BRAID Center for Accelerated Innovation (UC Los Angeles, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, and UC San Francisco). Additionally, each awardee has secured nonfederal funding equal to or greater than the NHLBI grant.

Each center is a consortium of academic, government, nonprofit, and private sector organizations that will provide funding for feasibility studies, regulatory, legal, business development, and entrepreneurial training and mentorship. According to NIH, NCAIs will navigate the translation of early stage biomedical innovations from the research laboratory to commercial development and deployment to patients.

NCAI awardees will leverage existing federal government resources, including those offered by NIH and by other federal program partners including the FDA, the United States Patent Office, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

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