# The Sustainable Heartland Accelerator Regional Partnership (SHARP) Hub

> **NIH NIH UT2** · BBC ENTREPRENUERIAL TRAINING AND CONSULTING, LLC · 2020 · $1,454,537

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Despite the investment of billions of dollars in biomedical research each year from NIH, barriers remain in
effectively translating basic science discoveries from academia to commercial products that benefit
patients. These barriers include a funding gap between basic research and commercial developments, a
lack of knowledge by innovators on how to bring products to market, and a lack of sufficient
commercialization resources required for early-stage developments. To address this need, this project
will develop a five state biomedical technology transfer accelerator hub serving the Central Region IDeA
states (Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, North Dakota and South Dakota). This accelerator hub will be
called the Sustainable Heartland Accelerator Regional Partnership (SHARP) Hub. Led by BBC
Entrepreneurial Training and Consulting LLC (BBCetc) and the University of Kansas (KU), SHARP Hub
will implement a three-pronged approach to include a mentoring program, an entrepreneurial training
curriculum, and networking and outreach tools. These resources will be available to universities or
regional consortia to develop technology commercialization capacity in the health sciences. The long
term goal is creation of a self-sustaining, regional biomedical technology transfer accelerator that will
increase the number of biomedical technologies translated and new startups formed. In the first phase of
the project, we will use the extensive training experience of BBCetc and the life science expertise at KU
to build the leadership and governance framework of the accelerator hub, and establish the mentoring
program, training curricula, and networking infrastructure at KU. During the first phase, we will also build
relationships with targeted universities in the other four states of the Central Region, sign a memorandum
of understanding with these universities, and host a regional conference. In the second phase of the
project, we will roll out the mentoring program, training curricula and networking resources to the other
four states. During the second phase, we also aim to implement a grant program to selected pilot
projects using matching funds from outside of NIH dollars. To sustain SHARP Hub at the completion of
the second phase, we intend license materials and protocols to biomedical technology transfer offices at
universities nationwide with incremental services for a fee.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9997980
- **Project number:** 5UT2GM130175-03
- **Recipient organization:** BBC ENTREPRENUERIAL TRAINING AND CONSULTING, LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** Becky Aistrup
- **Activity code:** UT2 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $1,454,537
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-01 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9997980

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9997980, The Sustainable Heartland Accelerator Regional Partnership (SHARP) Hub (5UT2GM130175-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9997980. Licensed CC0.

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