About Virginia Catalyst
We are a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation created by the Virginia General Assembly and funded by the Commonwealth’s General Fund and seven Virginia public research universities: Eastern Virginia Medical School, George Mason University, Old Dominion University, University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Tech and William & Mary.
Our Mission
Our mission is to advance economic development by creating competitive critical mass for Virginia life sciences through collaborations with our research universities and industry, to attract research and commercialization capital to Virginia and to catalyze the commercialization of Virginia’s innovations that meet large, unmet medical needs, improve human health and to create many more high-paying life science jobs in Virginia.
Our goal is to have the Commonwealth of Virginia be the very best in the nation at translational medicine and commercialization. We will achieve this by teaming up the biosciences industry with our world-class academic researchers and focusing efforts on solving large unmet medical needs.
– Michael Grisham, CEO
Our Programs
We provide competitive, non-dilutive, milestone-based grant funding where two or more of Virginia's research universities collaborate with an industry partner on significant translational research and commercialization opportunities that improve human health and create jobs. We also lead strategic initiatives in areas were Virginia can be a national and global leader, and support this with investments creating research tools and infrastructure that provide our research universities, healthcare systems and companies a competitive advantage over other regions in the country.
Action and Results
Virginia Catalyst awards have resulted in a 10-to-1 return on investment. We have awarded grants totaling $10.2 million to advance 24 collaborative projects of great scientific and commercial promise through meaningful developmental milestones. These projects have attracted an additional $100 million in matching funds and follow-on funding. We are just completing our seventh round of grant funding for an additional $1.4 million in awards to 3 projects focused on the neurosciences including a game-changing project to significantly improve the standard of care for the treatment of opioid addiction.
We have helped our research universities and healthcare systems build a breakthrough statewide system of research tools and infrastructure to support the neurosciences with: 1) a directory of Virginia’s impressive assets in the neurosciences, including our top researchers and our core facilities; 2) a registry of all neuro patients, and 3) a clinical trial and research network. This will attract increased funding from industry, private equity, philanthropy and the federal government. This model can be expanded to other clinical and research fields.
We have helped our research universities and healthcare systems build a breakthrough statewide system of research tools and infrastructure to support the neurosciences with: 1) a directory of Virginia’s impressive assets in the neurosciences, including our top researchers and our core facilities; 2) a registry of all neuro patients, and 3) a clinical trial and research network. This will attract increased funding from industry, private equity, philanthropy and the federal government. This model can be expanded to other clinical and research fields.
Neuroscience Initiative
The Virginia Neuroscience Initiative (VNI) is an innovative, statewide collaborative approach that brings experienced neuroscientists, medical providers, clinicians, and industry partners together to accelerate research on neurological disorders. Capitalizing on our Commonwealth's combined strength, expertise, and resources in the neuroscience fields, this initiative positions us for greater numbers of research funding from government, private equity, philanthropy, and corporate sponsors.
