Writing Winning SBIR/STTR Grant Proposals: Insights from Advisors and Reviewers (2020)
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs are $2.4+ billion federal grant platforms established to fund product commercialization. Through a competitive, awards-based program, SBIR and STTR fund qualified small businesses to bring products to market.
This seminar is designed to help you determine if these programs are right for you, and to share insights from SBIR/STTR reviewers on how to write a successful proposal.
Panelists
Dan Lilly, SBIR Advisor
Daniel Lilly joined the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center in October 1999. His experience includes SBIR advising, program management and technology sales management to the government and to Fortune 500 businesses. Dan spent seven years of his career as state director of the Rhode Island Procurement Technical Assistance Center. During that time, Dan was credited with rebuilding that program into one of the most productive in the region. In 1995, Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Almond proclaimed a November day “Dan Lilly Day” to recognize him for consistently exceeding program goals, improving state purchasing practices and implementing strategy. In 1997, Dan received a Special Recognition Award from the Association of Government Marketing Assistance Specialists (AGMAS) to acknowledge his efforts and dedication to strengthening the PTAC program on a national level. Dan is a member of APTAC, and served as National Legislative Director for the organization from 1995-1998. He is a recipient of the APTAC Fellow Lifetime Achievement Award. Dan was co-recipient of the 2019 SBDC Service Center Excellence and Innovation Award for Massachusetts and New England. Dan is a graduate of Fordham University and holds an MBA from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
Susan R. Doctrow, PhD
Dr. Doctrow has broad experience directing entrepreneurial biotechnology/pharmaceutical research, including cross-disciplinary teamwork in drug discovery, lead optimization, preclinical drug development, and alliance management, acquired over 20 years in leadership roles at Proteome Systems, Eukarion, and Alkermes. More recently, as a faculty member at the Boston University School of Medicine, she directed government-funded research on mitigation of radiation injury, diseases associated with oxidative stress, and mitochondrial injury. As an independent scientific consultant since 2015, she advises clients in the pharmaceutical industry, particularly at the discovery and early development stages, on a range of therapeutic and other health-related R&D. This includes guidance on SBIR/STTR grantsmanship, informed by the over $7M in federal research awards she’s received as principal investigator and 15 years service on SBIR/STTR and other review panels for NIH. Dr. Doctrow has a PhD in biochemistry from Brandeis University and was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Judah Folkman at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Stacy Chin, PhD
Dr. Chin is the CEO and co-founder of HydroGlyde Coatings, a revolutionary, Boston-based start-up delivering a proprietary coating technology to advance condoms and global public health. HydroGlyde Coatings emerged into the start-up space as a result of Dr. Chin’s PhD pursuits at Boston University based on a project supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She has key leadership roles in R&D, product development, business development, managing highly interdisciplinary teams, and securing patents. HydroGlyde Coatings has secured over $1.4 Million in funding through grants from the NIH SBIR Phase I and Phase II, the MA Life Sciences Center (MLSC) MassRamp Award, the MA Tech Transfer Center (MTTC) Seed Innovation Award, and the Boston University BuzzLab Summer Accelerator. HydroGlyde has been featured in 15+ media spotlights, from local Boston news channels to the likes of CNN, NBC, Boston Globe, and BBC. Dr. Chin has been recognized for her entrepreneurial leadership and research achievements through a number of awards including Entrepreneur of the Year by the Worcester Chamber of Commerce, the Female Founder Fellow by The Capital Network, as well as the Fieldman Award and Laursen Research Fellow at Boston University. She holds an HBX credential from Harvard Business School, serves as an NIH SBIR reviewer, and is a TEDx speaker.
Thomas Bifano, PhD
Dr. Bifano directs the Boston University Photonics Center, a core facility and academic center of excellence comprised of thirty-five faculty members from seven academic departments, eighty graduate students, and ten staff members. He leads BUPC programs for education, scholarly research and development of advanced photonic device prototypes for commercial and military applications. Dr. Bifano also serves as a Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and was Chair of the Manufacturing Engineering Department from 1999-2006. His research focuses on modeling, design, production, and use of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) in optical applications. He has written dozens of successful Phase I, II, and IIa proposals as well as reviewed for SBIR grants mostly for NSF and NASA. He is co-founder and CTO of Boston Micromachines Corporation, an optical technology manufacturing company located in Cambridge, MA. Dr. Bifano holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University.