# ASCEND, Accelerating Solutions for Commercialization and Entrepreneurial Development in the Mountain West IDeA States

> **NIH NIH UT2** · VIRTICI, LLC · 2020 · $1,374,707

## Abstract

Project Summary
The objective of this proposal is to create a Mountain West region technology Accelerator Hub to conduct
research on developing, implementing, and testing a comprehensive collateral and consulting offering for
promoting biomedical entrepreneurship, technology transfer, management, small business finance, and
additional business skills needed to commercialize basic research to enhance human health.
Many limiting factors hamper the ultimate goal of commercializing basic and translational science in IDeA
states, including a gap in funding between basic research discoveries and scientific feasibility or validation
studies required to define a product for early stage technology development, a lack of knowledge and
understanding by innovators about how technologies are brought to market, a lack of access to sufficient
technology development and commercialization resources for early-stage technology development, limited
resources in Technology Transfer and Commercialization Offices, an insufficient number of local technology
businesses to create a critical mass of entrepreneurial expertise and culture; a lack of exposure to
commercialization education, training, and mentoring (including in patents, startups, business plans, venture
capital and angel investing), a limited knowledge of technology transfer and SBIR/STTR programs; and a lack
of awareness of available resources at the local, state and regional levels.
To address these goals, we propose to create a regional technology Accelerator Hub throughout the Mountain
West (Western) region of IDeA states that is closely networked with Mountain West IDeA state universities and
their affiliated Technology Transfer Offices and small business partners. This network will provide the
framework for effective communication and outreach that will create institutional change and build an
entrepreneurial culture throughout this region. We will provide robust education and training of students and
researchers and other entrepreneurs to accelerate development of commercialization activities, substantially
increasing SBIR/STTR applications and facilitating communication between the NIH and IDeA institutions.
The objectives of this application are to: 1) establish infrastructure, develop educational materials (curricula,
texts, webinars, workshops and courses), and train staff; 2) accelerate entrepreneurialism through innovator
mentoring, SBIR/STTR application submission, and increased partnering activity; 3) increase visibility of
technological advancements, industry partnerships and licensing revenues through outreach, coaching and
partnering activities, at each of the Mountain West IDeA state institutions.
The product of this work will be the ASCEND solution, a comprehensive, sustainable educational and
consulting services offering that will be leveraged across the Mountain West IDeA States-collaborating
biomedical institutions and marketed to other institutions that want to accelerate biomedical en...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10002255
- **Project number:** 5UT2GM130166-03
- **Recipient organization:** VIRTICI, LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** Neil A Fanger
- **Activity code:** UT2 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1,374,707
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-01 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10002255

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10002255, ASCEND, Accelerating Solutions for Commercialization and Entrepreneurial Development in the Mountain West IDeA States (5UT2GM130166-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10002255. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*