In the mid nineties, a few highly motivated Boston-area physicians and researchers met to identify gaps in healthcare where known and discuss how emerging technologies could help solve clinical problems.
The founding institutions for the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT), a non-profit consortium of Boston teaching hospitals and engineering schools includes Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, MIT, Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Medical Center, Boston University, Children’s Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Northeastern University, Partners Healthcare, and the VA Boston Healthcare System.
CIMIT has recently released their FY 12 Innovation Grants Request for Applications (RFA). The Innovation grants are seed grants to support early stage collaborative research projects for improving patient care with emphasis on devices, procedures, diagnosis, and the delivery of healthcare. CIMIT awards the grants to principal investigators on the faculty at an academic medical center or university in the greater Boston area.
The RFA seeks applications in all of the CIMIT program areas but this RFA is particularly interested in applications in two areas:
• NeuroHealth, including neurotechnology, traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, PTSD, and pain
• Integrated Clinical Environments to include projects that will create innovations in the delivery of healthcare within or across care environments through the integration of medical devices, decision-support algorithms, electronic medical records, or with patients and care providers.
Applications will be evaluated in two phases. Two page pre-proposals are due January 14, 2011. A second phase will accept full proposals based upon the most promising pre-proposals. Full proposals will be due by March 28, 2011. Final decisions on the proposals will be made by June 6, 2011.
Awards will be for $70,000 direct cost and up to $100,000 total costs. The earliest anticipated start date for the full proposals selected for funding is October 1, 2011. However, this is based on the funds that CIMIT receives from the Federal government.
For more information, go to www.cimit.org/grants-scienceawards.html.
