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The Research Institution GAP Fund and Accelerator Program Summit

NJHF commits additional $1 million to fund research and innovation grants in N.J.

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The Story

The New Jersey Health Foundation, a New Brunswick-based nonprofit that funds health research and innovation, on Monday announced a new $1 million funding round, $500,000 of which will fund a new collaboration with Newark-based Nicholson Foundation to help researchers commercialize their ideas.

Jim M. Golubieski, foundation president,  said the new Innovation Grants program will provide grants of up to $50,000 to researchers that “have good ideas and need money to commercialize them.” He said the Nicholson Foundation and the New Jersey Health Foundation will jointly fund the Innovation Grants program.

“We are partnering for the first time with another foundation,” Golubieski said. “Our goal eventually is to have (collaborations) with a group of foundations in New Jersey so we can add to the amount that we have for research grants.”

The other $500,000 will fund the existing New Jersey Health Foundation Research Grants program, which awards grants of up to $35,000 to fund early stage research projects that demonstrate potential and may lead to larger future grants from other organizations to further advance the research.  That program has made total awards of about $55 million to New Jersey researchers over the past 20 years, Golubieski said.

According to the foundation, many of the grant recipients have gone on to raise substantial funding from private, state and federal organizations.

The New Jersey Health Foundation also has a venture capital arm, Foundation Venture Capital Group, and the goal is that Innovation Fund grants will help seed new ventures that could be funded by the venture fund, which makes investments of up to $500,000, Golubieski said.

“Our collaboration with the Nicholson Foundation is a wonderful illustration of major not-for-profits working together to leverage resources that strengthen programs of mutual interest,” said Dr. George F. Heinrich, chief executive of the New Jersey Health Foundation.

Faculty and personnel at organizations affiliated with New Jersey Health Foundation are eligible to apply for the grants. Those organizations are: Kessler Foundation, Princeton University, Rowan School of Osteopathic Medicine, Rutgers University and Stevens Institute of Technology.

“There is an abundance of outstanding work being done by scientists and others throughout the state of New Jersey,” Heinrich said.  “We are delighted to be able to advance this research and technology and our New Jersey Health Foundation mission by supporting potentially breakthrough science at these prestigious organizations. We are also extremely gratified that the Nicholson Foundation has joined us in this effort.”

The New Jersey Health Foundation funds a wide range of health-related research, Golubieski said, “It is really wide open,” and includes new disease therapies, medical devices and the emerging field of health-related computer and mobile phone applications

Through its Grants Program, New Jersey Health Foundation has historically awarded more than $54 million to support early stage research in New Jersey.  A substantial number of these grant recipients have gone on to use their research results as the basis to attain significant grant awards from private, state and federal organizations.

via NJHF commits additional $1 million to fund research and innovation grants in N.J. | NJBIZ.