GETTING OUTSIDE HELP

National conferences hold seminars to instruct small businesses about the preparation of SBIR and STTR grant applications and to facilitate networking with representatives of target agencies. A list of upcoming conferences can be found at http://www.zyn.com/sbir/. If your company decides to include grants as part of its funding strategy but lacks prior experience with grant writing or sufficient scientific staff time to write and edit the entire application, you may increase your changes of success by using outside consultants. A variety of firms provide supporting services ranging from simply providing forms and instruction packages for specific programs to drafting applications based on scientific input from clients. Compensation may include a nonrefundable flat fee, hourly fees, and/or a success fee proportional to the size of the award.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Betsy M. Ohlsson-Wilhelm, Ph.D., CEO, SciGro, Inc. Dr. Ohlsson-Wilhelm has experience with grant-based research, research management, contract management, small business grants, and technology evaluation and planning. She has served as an Associate Professor on medical school faculties at the University of Rochester and the Pennsylvania State University, and was Senior Vice President of Research & Development for Zynaxis, Inc., a small R&D company.

Katharine A. Muirhead, Ph.D., COO, SciGro, Inc. Dr. Muirhead has experience with pharmaceutical research management, technology evaluation and planning, small business grants, and business/technology development. She has served as Assistant Professor of Pathology at the University of Rochester, and has fourteen years of pharmaceutical R&D experience at SmithKline & French and Zynaxis, Inc. Most recently, she was Senior Vice President, New Business & Technology Development for Zynaxis, Inc.

About SciGro, Inc.

SciGro, Inc. offers technology assessment and scientific management services for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostic industries. SciGro has a demonstrated ability to communicate new concepts to investors and granting agencies, having written dozens of winning SBIR/STTR grant applications on behalf of clients. For more information, visit www.maconsultants.com/scigro.htm.