MnDRIVE ACTIVATE Neuromodulation Fellowship: PROGRAM DESCRIPTION with APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
University of Minnesota
MnDRIVE Brain Conditions Program: Neuromodulation Fellowship
Research and Clinical Faculty ● Postdoctoral Staff ● Clinical Residents
Announcing a 2025-2026 Fellowship Program
Award duration and amount: Up to $75,000 for one year of support. Award may be applied to teaching, clinical or research release time (or stipend) and benefits as well as approved associated costs for supplies related to the approved fellowship application not to exceed a total (release plus associated costs) of $75,000 for one year. The MDC Innovation Fellowship Program and ACTIVATE funding are scheduled to begin in the Summer (Week of July 21) of 2025. Subsequent awards are expected for July 2026.
Deadlines for Letter of Intent and Application are linked with the UMN MDC Innovation Fellows Program
The full application and review schedule for the 2025-6 MDC Innovation Fellows and ACTIVATE are included at the end of this document. For 2025-6 the application for the UMD MDC Innovation Fellows is expected to be due in Dec 2024 with final acceptance in Jan 2025. MnDRIVE Materials will be due in parallel with the Innovation Fellows application to facilitate applications to both programs. MnDRIVE ACTIVATE Fellowship funding will be notified within 1 month of acceptance as an MDC Innovation Fellow.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION. The University of Minnesota announces a collaborative innovation-focused fellowship program specifically targeting faculty, postdocs and clinical residents or fellows developing neuromodulation-related therapies for 2025-2026. The MnDRIVE ACTIVATE (FACulty & sTaff InnoVATion & Entrepreneurial) Fellowship is funded by the Brain Conditions area of the Minnesota Discovery and Research InnoVation Economy (MnDRIVE) initiative. ACTIVATE Fellowships are a collaborative partnership between MnDRIVE and the UMN Bakken Medical Device Center (MDC) and will be awarded to applicants from MnDRIVE departments or programs and who have an interest in intensive innovation-training with focus on neuromodulation translation and entrepreneurship.
The successful applicant will have appropriate background in neuromodulation as well as specific research or clinical experience that has provided them the direction to consider pursuing this fellowship. In addition, the applicant must be willing to commit to retaining their affiliation with MnDRIVE and UMN following completion of the fellowship to ensure they will return the novel experience gained in the program to their role and colleagues in the University.
MDC Innovation Fellows are expected to commit the time and effort needed to fully participate in the entirety of the program. They will be expected to attend one day each week, in-person, at the Bakken Medical Devices Center for teaching and project work. Additionally they will be expected to undertake substantial (approximately 10 hours) independent work each week to move the project forward.
The MnDRIVE ACTIVATE fellowship is intended to enhance and inspire novel University innovations and entrepreneurial directions within the UMN system and by delivering and commercializing solutions with high commercial potential related to neuromodulation research questions and discoveries, clinical and technical opportunities, and novel solutions to critical medical needs in the neuromodulation space. Importantly, the ACTIVATE Fellowship is not designed to remove productive research scientists from the laboratory. Instead the goal is to educate research scientists and clinician in entrepreneurship and innovation to return more innovative, productive and entrepreneurial scientists and clinician to the research/innovation ecosystem of the University.
Neuromodulation is a transdisciplinary field focused on treating nervous system disorders (e.g., neurological, psychiatric, autonomic or end-organ dysregulation, sensory or motor dysfunction related to the spinal cord or peripheral damage, etc.) with technological interventions at an appropriate neural interface that provides a therapeutic response and is non-destructive, reversible, and adjustable. Neuromodulation integrates basic science, engineering, and clinical disciplines to yield new insights into nervous system function and to develop therapeutic innovations that include electrical, magnetic, optogenetic, ultrasound and related invasive and non-invasive technologies. Fellowship applications using purely pharmaceutical interventions will NOT be considered responsive to this call for applications.
This fellowship will provide awardees with a valuable opportunity to develop career and skills, as well as strengthen and expand industry investment in expertise and resources that the University and MnDRIVE have to offer in bringing data-driven neuromodulation therapies to address critical medical needs.
MnDRIVE
MnDRIVE is a landmark partnership between the University and the state of Minnesota. Discoveries and treatments for brain conditions, a MnDRIVE core area of research and partnership, addresses complex and debilitating nervous system-related disorders by leveraging university and state investments in medicine and engineering and extending our vibrant partnerships with medical device industries in Minnesota.
For more information about the MnDRIVE core area of discoveries and treatments for brain conditions and nervous system disorders/deficits, go to: https://mndrive.umn.edu/brain. For more information on MnDRIVE please visit: https://mndrive.umn.edu/.
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION. We seek outstanding ACTIVATE applicants (faculty, postdoctoral fellows, medical residents, or clinical fellows) who will work aggressively to complete entrepreneurial, innovation based commercialization training in neuromodulation-related areas. Selection of awardees will be a joint effort between MnDRIVE and the MDC Fellows Program and will be based on the strength of the applicant’s proposal including:
1) MDC Application to participate DUE DECEMBER 2, 2024
2) A Letter of Intent (LOI) to seek ACTIVATE funding DUE DECEMBER 2, 2024
3) The subsequent invited ACTIVATE application, which will outline their relevant professional history, evidence of past productivity in research or industry-related entrepreneurial projects, alignment of application and proposed area of work with the goals of the MDC Innovation Fellows Program and the MnDRIVE initiative, potential for program success, and confirmation that the ACTIVATE Fellow has discussed and can confirm that their release time can be managed appropriately by their department chair or supervisor.
Applicants must be affiliated with the University of Minnesota for the duration of the one-year award period and must follow University policies and procedures for research and innovation discovery. The MDC Innovation Fellows are an integral training component within part of the MDC Program. Innovation Fellows training is a 1 day/week, 10 month program of intensive education for people with an interest in translating and commercializing medical devices and products.
Interested applicants must discuss the program with MnDRIVE staff as well as their UMN department or program supervisors to ensure the stipends or release time funding can be utilized, and appropriate replacement staff can be identified, within the timeframes required for program application and participation. Additionally acceptance for funding will be contingent upon acceptance into the Innovation Fellows Program so communication with the MnDRIVE Staff as well as with the Innovation Fellows Staff will be important to understand the program's requirements, fit for the program and potential for a successful application to the MDC Innovation Fellows Program.
Previous recipients of a MnDRIVE Neuromodulation through Industry Partnerships Fellowship or a MnDRIVE Neuromodulation Therapy Commercialization Fellowship will NOT be eligible. There will also be no fellowship renewals.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Applicants should give careful consideration to the diverse expertise and perspectives (e.g. technical, intellectual property, commercialization, clinical, funding, regulatory, business development, etc.) that are essential for a successful innovation experience. MDC Innovation Fellows learn a disciplined product development process that includes FDA requirements, reimbursement, intellectual property and business strategies in addition to creativity techniques and prototyping. Fellows learn a disciplined product development process that includes FDA requirements, reimbursement, intellectual property and business strategies in addition to creativity techniques and prototyping. Applicants should have a strong desire to engage in entrepreneurial thinking, improve their ability to determine commercial viability for concepts, assess and refine medical technologies, understand and maximize intellectual property as it is developed in your lab. Fellows will also learn about and engage in translation and commercialization processes, the importance of identifying near term translatable concepts that will rapidly fill unmet medical needs, determining go/no-go decisions for commercialization, developing professional networking relationships, the importance of reimbursement pathways for medical commercialization, and understanding needs and successful pathways for raising funds required for effective medical device commercialization.
MDC Innovation Fellows have been successful in invention disclosures and issued patents, in startup companies, large corporations, and academic medicine. They have also been successful in licensing and optioning medical products and raising venture capital funding needed to drive translational research and development of novel commercialized products. Improved access to this training among the MnDRIVE teams will improve the success rate for neuromodulation development programs, reduce the frustration of research teams and PIs as they attempt efficient translation of research concepts, and increase the visibility of translational research success at the University of Minnesota. An important inclusion in both LOI and applications will be discussion and specific reference and dedication to the goals of the MDC Innovation Fellows Program as well as MnDRIVE neuromodulation commercialization. Applications where the applicant, mentors, and university faculty mentor(s) do not provide the necessary and available complement of expertise to ensure a high-quality training experience will not be considered for funding. Consultation with the MDC Innovation Fellows Director and MnDRIVE regarding both programs is strongly recommended prior to submission of the LOI and applications.
The University of Minnesota is an affirmative action/equal opportunity educator and employer.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS. There are three parts to the application process. The timing for submission is linked to the MDC Fellowship Application, which forms the basis for the ACTIVATE Fellowship. Applicants will use the timing of the MDC Fellowship Application to submit materials required for ACTIVATE funding. The letter of intent (LOI) and application for ACTIVATE funding are meant to be supplementary documents to the MDC Application and process and will be used specifically to ensure alignment with the MnDRIVE program and confirming that the applicant release time is acceptable to supplant the applicant’s regular duties.
- The MDC Innovation Fellows Application: Expected call for application is October 7, 2024 with applications due on December 2, 2024.
The process for application and review for the MDC Innovation Fellows program is well established and will be used as the existing framework for this program. MDC and MnDRIVE Brain Conditions will collaborate on joint applications to the ACTIVATE program to review and select appropriate joint applicants for the ACTIVATE and MDC Innovation Fellows program.
The MDC Innovation Fellows Application can be found at the MDC Innovation Fellows website. Submission of the MDC Innovation Fellows application should be completed as outlined in the MDC Innovation Fellows materials. As the MDC Innovation Fellows program is very selective, please take great care in completing the application to that program. As recommended in the MDC materials, it is important for applicants to discuss the MDC program with MDC staff prior to submission to ensure that you are a good fit for the program.
- Letter of Intent for an ACTIVATE Fellowship (LOI): Due at the time of the MDC Innovation Fellows application. The Application for the MDC Innovation Fellows Program will be Dec. 2, 2024. Letters of Intent for the ACTIVATE Fellowship are also due on Dec. 2, 2024.
The Letter of Intent is due at the time of submission of the application to the Medical Device Center Innovation Fellows Program. The Letter of Intent should include:
- The name and home department of the applicant;
- A one paragraph (no more than one page) description of the research or clinical area of the applicant as it relates to their interest in the MDC program and Neuromodulation;
- A current CV including patent applications and relevant innovation experiences such as corporate experience or collaborations, work in a neuromodulation-relevant field, translated or potentially translatable research concepts, or similar experiences;
- Names of two applicant references who can be contacted for a discussion regarding the applicant’s goals, prior work and appraisal of the applicants background and work in terms of potential program success. Applicants should arrange that the references accept the responsibility to be a reference and include appropriate contact information, email or telephone, to allow efficient contact. The LOI and application should also include the names of the references, their current roles and experience related to the neuromodulation translation or commercialization;
- The name of the applicant’s home department and supervisor or department chair who can be contacted for additional information regarding the applicant as well as regarding the funding and its use to provide release from teaching or clinical duties. The applicant is responsible for confirming that the home department and chair has been approached regarding the potential release from their duties as part of the ACTIVATE Fellowship;
- A brief paragraph provided by the department chair acknowledging the applicant’s interest in the program as well as acknowledging the intent to accept and use funding provided by the Fellowship to hire replacement or otherwise accept responsibility for allowing the applicant to have the necessary release from their normal duties, for the equivalent of one day per week for 10-12 months, from their normal teaching and / or clinical duties.
The LOI will be reviewed by the MnDRIVE Brain Conditions program and used, in conjunction with the MDC Innovation Fellowship application, to discuss the applicant’s materials within and as part of the MDC Application and review process.
3) Final Application for the MnDRIVE ACTIVATE Fellowship: Due within 2 weeks after final acceptance into the MDC Innovation Fellows program - For the 2025-6 academic year January 20, 2025 is the date for ACTIVATE Final Application. February 3, 2025 is the date for the ACTIVATE Final Acceptance Offer.
Upon successful acceptance into the MDC Innovation Fellows Program the ACTIVATE applicant should provide a full final application to this MnDRIVE Fellowship within two weeks.
The ACTIVATE Fellowship Application should include:
- The name and home department of the applicant;
- One paragraph (no more than one page) description of the research area of the applicant as it relates to their interest in the MDC program and neuromodulation;
- The name of the applicant’s home department and supervisor or chair of that department;
- A final acknowledgement from the department chair regarding the applicant’s formal intent to participate in the program and acknowledging the formal plan to use funding provided by the fellowship to hire replacement or otherwise accept responsibility for allowing the applicant to have the necessary release from their normal duties for the equivalent of one day per week from their normal teaching and/or clinical duties.
Final Awards of the MnDRIVE ACTIVATE Fellowship will be made within 4 weeks of acceptance into the MDC Fellows Program or 2 weeks following the Final ACTIVATE Application.
