Technology Development Fund

The Technology Development Fund (TDF), established in 2010, is an internal funding mechanism that exemplifies Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s commitment to commercial translation and a growing licensing enterprise.

The TDF helps answer questions about whether technologies work. By funding and fast-tracking pivotal proof-of-concept/validation work, prototype development, and pre-clinical and clinical development, we can provide innovators the support necessary to turn their ideas into reality.

TDF grants help advance our innovators’ inventions and discoveries along the commercialization pathway and make them more attractive to potential licensing partners by providing the resources to assess design choices, determine viability and market demand, and minimize unnecessary risk by identifying and addressing any logistical issues that might interfere with success.

Investing in our innovators and their ideas and supporting them with the resources and expertise to develop their technologies enhances our ability to license them for the benefit of children everywhere.

There are two award cycles per year, with applications due in April and September. Applications are reviewed by industry experts in the commercialization field with business, scientific and technical backgrounds. Nationwide Children’s inventors receive up to $100,000 total funding each cycle, and awardees work actively with the OTC to develop their projects and transfer their inventions to the private sector. Funds may be awarded to one or multiple projects and may be distributed in their entirety or on a milestone basis as determined by the TDF Committee.

Once the TDF Committee has selected the cycle’s awardees, the OTC notifies applicants of their award status and distributes awarded funds. Applicants who do not receive awards may reapply to be reconsidered during the next funding cycle. 

Current Nationwide Children's employees can learn more and apply via the OTC’s ANCHOR site.

Ohio Third Frontier Technology Validation and Start-up Fund (TVSF)

Beginning in 2017, the OTC began leveraging state TVSF funding awarded by the Ohio Development Services Agency to augment internal TDF support for projects. TVSF grants are awarded to Ohio research institutions to advance select technology projects toward commercialization. Nationwide Children’s was recently awarded its fourth TVSF grant.