Finding an Industry Partner

Innovation Ventures is here to help advise and connect you with potential industry collarborators and licensees. Please reach out to [email protected] in the Office of Strategic Alliances to schedule a consultation, or consider pursuing partners via UCSF-wide requests for proposals, through the Catalyst Program, or via the Center for Digital Health Innovation, as applicable (see below). Our office has relationships with every major pharmaceutical and large biotech company, along with an extensive network with smaller companies and foundations that we work with regularly.

Industry Partner Requests for Proposals

On an annual or semi-annual basis, some of UCSF's industry partners circulate campus-wide requests for proposals (RFPs) in their research areas of interests. Typically, these RFPs begin with a short non-confidential pre-proposal and, if selected, receive research funding through a sponsored research agreement (SRA). Click the link above for RFPs that are currently available, and please reach out to the Office of Strategic Alliances if you are interested in applying. We find that proposals which have benefitted from some consultation prior to the deadline, either from our office or from our industry RFP contact directly, have a much greater chance of funding success. 

Contact for more information:

Peter Kotsonis
[email protected]

Catalyst Partnerships 

UCSF's Catalyst Program supports the early development of therapeutics, diagnostics, devices, digital health, and biotools at UCSF. The Catalyst Program aims to build innovative collaboration models that are mutually beneficial for UCSF researchers and industry partners. Partners collaborate through the Catalyst Awards and often extend their engagement with the broader UCSF community.

The Catalyst Program offers UCSF academic innovators the opportunity to network with potential industry partners both during the consultation phases and the final report-out event. The Catalyst Program prepares innovators to work with industry partners and offers a rich educational experience which exposes them to first hand development and investor expertise. Our current partnerships permit consideration for the development of collaborations to support the technology development going forward. Current Catalyst partnerships include: ShangPharmaQuest, and MedImmune.

Contact for more information:

Charles P. Hart
[email protected]

Center for Digital Health Innovation Partnerships

Leveraging UCSF’s clinical and research excellence, CDHI works with industry partners to develop, validate, and commercialize innovative digital health solutions that improve health and wellness state-wide, nationally, and globally.  To do so, CDHI pairs industry partners with UCSF faculty, staff, and students to transform healthcare through digital technologies and the powerful experiences and workflows that they deliver. 

A primary goal for UCSF is to develop and validate computing architectures that enable it to develop new knowledge and advance precision medicine. CDHI works to advance this goal by engaging in co-development partnerships with respected companies such as Intel, GE Healthcare, and Cisco to allow clinicians and investigators to connect dispersed patient-consumer data and combine them with powerful analytics to revolutionize healthcare.

Contact for more information:

Rhona Snyman
[email protected]