The McCamish Parkinson’s Disease Innovation Program in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University is releasing a 2023 Request for Proposals (RFP) supported by a generous gift from the McCamish Foundation. The vision of the program is to be the technology-driven hub of far-reaching innovation for the understanding and treatment of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other complex neurological disorders through the intersection of fundamental neuroscience, engineering, and computing. We are pleased to announce this peer-reviewed grant program to provide funding and community building for innovative, interdisciplinary, and collaborative research projects. The goals of this fund are to spark innovative research ideas, cross-pollinate faculty collaborations, and bring new Emory and Georgia Tech investigators into the Parkinson’s disease research community.
McCamish Blue Sky Research Program Areas of Focus
The McCamish program will support high-risk, blue-sky research that has long-term potential to impact the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of PD. Applications should address one or more of the following research areas:
- Integrated research in human and animal studies to uncover connections between different scales of investigation and leverage relative strengths of approaches
- Use of advanced data science methodologies in PD related research
- Linking individual-specific brain circuits function to cognitive, sensory, motor outcomes
- Multi-scale brain activity mapping in relationship to behavior
- Stimulation and/or closed-loop control strategies at the cellular/circuit or systems level
- Investigation of non-motor aspects related to PD and movement disorders
- Use or development of novel technologies for intervention in PD, across levels from genes/molecules to circuits/networks to rehabilitation
For more information about the program, visit https://parkinsons.gatech.edu/.
Please direct all questions to Fadrika Prather (parkinsons@bme.gatech.edu).
McCamish Blue Sky Research Program Details
This program enables teams of engineers, scientists, and clinicians from both Emory University and the Georgia Institute of Technology to obtain preliminary proof-of-principle data to support new research trajectories leading to publication, translation, and subsequent funding applications and/or commercialization. The funding mechanisms are designed to facilitate this goal for projects/teams that are at various stages of research related to PD, from nascent ideas to more well-developed investigations that already have some preliminary momentum. More specifically, the Blue Sky Research Grants are larger grants intended for more well developed projects, whereas the smaller Blue Sky Seed Grants are intended to help teams with earlier stage ideas develop enough momentum to pursue the Blue Sky Research Grants. New this year is the Blue Sky Commercialization Grant, designed to facilitate the translation of research projects to commercializable technologies.
1) Blue Sky Research Grants are designed for well-developed, collaborative projects that are ready to generate data/outcomes needed to secure federal funding or pursue commercialization. The total budget for each grant is up to $125,000 for one year, with the possibility of a second year of funding through a competitive renewal process. We anticipate funding 3–4 projects. We welcome applications from teams previously supported by the Emory Udall Center of Excellence in Parkinson’s Disease Research and the APDA Center for Advanced Research. Success via this mechanism will entail the formation of new multi-disciplinary, collaborative teams; publication of data acquired using these funds; acquisition of new federal/private funding; and/or moving toward translation/commercialization.
2) Blue Sky Seed Grants are designed for new ideas that need time for development, with the goal to prepare applications for Blue Sky Research Project. We anticipate funding 2–4 projects, with each award up to $40,000 for one year (no renewal). Success via this mechanism will entail the formation of new multi-disciplinary, collaborative teams and the generation of competitive applications for Blue Sky Research Grants and/or federal/private funding.
3) Blue Sky Commercialization Grants are designed for new and existing ideas that have distinct commercialization potential. The goal of the commercialization grants is to support research projects to generate key data to advance these projects towards the marketplace and patient impact. We anticipate funding 2–3 projects, with the total budget for each project up to $30,000 for 6 months. In addition to funding, each team will receive support from the McCamish program, the BME Translational Research team, and Biolocity, with periodic meetings to guide the teams toward next phases. Success via this mechanism will entail the formation of new multi-disciplinary, collaborative teams; the generation of competitive applications for the Biolocity program, federal/private funding in support of commercialization (e.g., SBIR, STTR, GRA, etc.); and/or the formation of startups.
