# Washington Entrepreneurial Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub

> **NIH NIH U01** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2020 · $994,469

## Abstract

The University of Washington and the entrepreneurial community seeks to partner with the National Institutes
of Health to become a Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub (REACH) to accelerate academic
biomedical discoveries into products helping ease the highest U.S. burden of disease and disability.
The UW is a powerhouse in health sciences, technology, and innovation in a city known for seeking solutions
to the most pressing health problems around the world.
The University’s long-standing relationship with the entrepreneurial business community has helped in the
formation of Boeing, Microsoft, Amazon, Immunex, Zymogenetics, Teblos, the Drug Interaction Database, and
Seattle Genetics. It’s also led to well-recognized recombinant therapeutic and vaccine products such as growth
hormone, insulin, RecombiVax HB®, and Gardasil®.
Many of our graduates work at major health organizations in the city, including The Gates Foundation, Path,
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the Infectious Disease Research Institute. The University’s Foster
School of Business gathers business leaders to judge and mentor solutions to health problems, and major
business leaders are part of the governing board of these organizations and the networking hub The
Washington Global Health Alliance and The Innovation Hub of Life Sciences Washington.
In this rich spirt of collaboration, a hub to accelerate promising biomedical discoveries would fit right in. A hub
is needed to further energize the spirit of discovery and collaboration and overcome barriers in getting products
to the public. A hub will leverage existing resources for translational research and support the journey to
fruition to innovative products that change lives. With institutional co-funding commitments, strong support of
community leaders, and proven leadership in entrepreneurial startups, the four Aims of this proposal are to (1)
Develop an integrated infrastructure and implementation system; (2) Identify the most promising technologies,
and increase their availability using milestone-driven gap funding and mentoring (in business, marketing, and
networking) for market-driven proof-of-product concept and product definition; (3) Fuel the formation of new
biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies, and assist in pathways to a self-sustaining
structure; (4) Train the next generation of biomedical entrepreneurs to lead these ventures.
With NIH support, this hub will accelerate the creation of small businesses using biomedical discoveries to
launch products that impact health outcomes. An investment in the Pacific Northwest will amplify the returns
on this funding due to the critical mass of investigators, and the will of our institutions to make this happen.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10022342
- **Project number:** 5U01HL152401-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** RODNEY J.Y. HO
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $994,469
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-23 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10022342

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10022342, Washington Entrepreneurial Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub (5U01HL152401-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10022342. Licensed CC0.

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