The Rutgers Optimizes Innovation (ROI) mission is to accelerate the advancement of the university’s innovative healthcare research towards commercialization. The funding for this program, for the first 4 years, comes from a $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and a commensurate match from Rutgers’ non-federal internal capital.
The program is designed to provide an efficient and effective mechanism to quickly identify and support promising biomedical technologies. In addition to financial resources, ROI provides continuous support with IP protection, mentoring, management, and educational resources to assist the Rutgers Innovators navigate the commercialization process.
HealthAdvance is ROI's comprehensive grant management platform that covers application solicitation, application review by industry experts, award and project management. The platform will enhance Rutgers' innovation culture, providing continuous and readily accessible expert guidance to train the next generation of academic innovators.
WORC, or Workforce enhancement through Opportunities, Resources, and Credentials, is ROI's program that fosters precision training and engagement by leveraging academia, industry, and government to prepare the next generation of translational innovators.