The LaunchPad for Diabetes program is an internal translational research fund supporting collaborative research projects proposing innovative solutions for the treatment of Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. The goal of this program is to support/develop translational research projects that address unmet clinical needs and lead to improvements in care of patients with diabetes mellitus. The LaunchPad for Diabetes Fund supports collaborative translational research projects that propose innovative and viable solutions to curing, treating or diagnosing Diabetes.
Examples of desirable outcomes include: improved diagnosis and treatment of disease through new medical devices; new biomarkers or diagnostics; new therapeutic targets and agents; or new clinical adoption of developed tools. It is expected that outcomes from funded projects will result in new intellectual property, industry partnerships, license deals and/or the creation of a start-up companies.
Program Overview:
- Fund established in 2009 (13 years)
- 58 projects (with 8 renewals) including 9 Ignite pilot projects have been funded
Schools/Colleges/Offices of funded researchers: 5 (Medicine, Engineering, Curry, Data Science and Office for the Vice President for Research) - Number of departments of the funded researchers: 26
- 2022 patent fillings: 4 with 2 published and 1 pending
- Transactions in 2022: 1 executed
- Publications in 2022: 4 with 2 others pending acceptance
- Presentations in 2021:
- Start-up companies launched catalyzed by LaunchPad funding: 2 Type Zero & Slate BIO (IsletRegen is in early formation)
LaunchPad projects have received $11,897,237M in follow-on funding to date to move initial findings forward and spur diabetes innovation across UVA.