The Center’s Cooperative Research Matching Grants seek to increase industry-sponsored research at academic institutions in Massachusetts in order to accelerate scientific discoveries that lead to commercially-viable products and therapies. Under the program, applicants may receive up to $250,000 per year for up to two years. The grants support research that could lead to life-saving therapies and commercialized products, and seek to further the goal of sustaining and growing the state’s vital life sciences Supercluster.
“The Cooperative Research Matching Grant Program is designed to encourage research institutions and industry partners to collaboratively advance science that holds a high promise for commercialization,” said Dr. Susan Windham Bannister, President & CEO of the Center. “By providing matching support the Center can help accelerate the work being done through these important research collaborations. The grants awarded to date by the Center are showing promising results, and it is evident that they will bring returns for our local economy and for medical and scientific knowledge throughout the world. The Center and our Scientific Advisory Board look forward to reviewing a new round of applicants for this important program.”
In December, 2008 the Center’s Board of Directors voted to approve $3.76 million for Cooperative Research Matching Grants over a three-year period to foster collaborations between scientists, academic institutions and industry. The Center awarded six Cooperative Research Matching Grants from a pool of twenty-seven applicants. The grants are matched dollar-for-dollar by the industry partners involved with each collaboration. The first round of awards funded research into treatment options for cardiac conditions, diabetes, HIV, lupus and osteoarthritis. A full listing of past awardees and industry partners is available on the Center’s web site.
"With the Center’s matching grant support we have been able to go from proof of concept to scale up of the next generation of biostable polyurethanes for pacemakers and defibrillator leads in less than two years,” said Dr. Rudolf Faust, professor in the Chemistry Department at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Dr. Faust was awarded a grant in the first round to support a research collaboration with Boston Scientific focused on the development of novel polymer biomaterials. “In a highly competitive environment this support has been invaluable."
About the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center is a quasi-public agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts tasked with implementing the Massachusetts Life Sciences Act, a ten-year, $1 billion initiative that was signed into law in June of 2008. The Center’s mission is to create jobs in the life sciences and support vital scientific research that will improve the human condition. This work includes making financial investments in public and private institutions that are advancing life sciences research, development and commercialization as well as building ties between sectors of the Massachusetts life sciences community. For more information, visit www.masslifesciences.com.
