Catalyst Program

The Catalyst Program is UCSF's accelerator program focused on advancing UCSF discoveries with clinical impacts and commercial potential. The program also works to develop academic and industry collaborations, while also developing education in early translational research and entrepreneurship.

The Catalyst Program is focused on the development of therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices, digital health, and biotools. Since the program's inception in 2010, the Catalyst Program has helped 249 projects bridge the translational gap through funding totaling over $8.9 million, and follow-on funding totaling over $297 million. Furthermore, thirty-five patents have been issued from Catalyst Program projects and twenty-three start-up companies involving Catalyst Program projects have launched, including Viewpoint Therapeutics and Epigenyx.

Part of the Catalyst Program is the annual Catalyst Awards. These provide both industry advisor mentorship and seed funding to UCSF PIs with promising projects. These awards continue to focus on the development of therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices, and digital health.

The Catalyst Program also provides internships to offer an opportunity to learn about translational research and the processing of advancing academic discoveries along the translational path to commercialization and patient benefit. The internship runs parallel to the Catalyst Award Program to allow the interns to participate in the activities of the program, the review process, and the interactions between the academic researchers and industry experts mentoring the projects.