Application Process
Texas Health Catalyst’s application process works to identify promising health and life sciences innovations and propel them toward real-world impact. Accepted applicants receive expert support and seed funding to accelerate their project’s journey toward viable solutions that enhance health outcomes.
Since Texas Health Catalyst’s inception, numerous projects have flourished after participation in the program, achieving significant milestones and garnering attention from investors and industry leaders.
Call for Proposals
Texas Health Catalyst’s spring application cycle offers a unique opportunity for University of Texas at Austin innovators to shape the future of health care through cutting-edge solutions that enhance patient experiences, empower the health care workforce and optimize hospital operations.
Dell Medical School collaborates with the Cockrell School of Engineering, College of Pharmacy, College of Natural Sciences and Discovery to Impact to offer the spring application cycle.
Spring Challenge
The application cycle’s Patient-Centered Hospital of the Future Challenge aims to revolutionize health care delivery by developing patient-centric solutions that enhance outcomes, streamline workflows and integrate emerging technologies.
Texas Health Catalyst seeks visionaries ready to drive transformative change in areas such as:
- Enhancing patient outcomes through next-generation care models
- Streamlining health care workflows and operational efficiency
- Integrating emerging technologies into health care delivery
Focus Areas
- Integrated care delivery combining in-person, virtual, community and autonomous solutions
- Ambient intelligence and smart environments that enhance patient and provider experience
- Connected health solutions bridging hospital, home and community care
- Personalized patient and family education journeys
- Advanced simulation and immersive training environments
- Data-driven quality improvement and outcomes measurement
- Advanced training and skill development platforms
- Solutions addressing workforce shortages and evolving health care roles
- AI-augmented automation and workflow optimization
- Energy-efficient and environmentally conscious solutions
- Resource optimization and waste reduction
- Predictive maintenance and facility management
Eligibility, Timeline & More
Eligibility
Texas Health Catalyst seeks innovators who are ready to collaborate, incorporate expert feedback and commit to advance their projects toward real-world impact. Innovators who meet either of the following criteria are eligible to participate in the application cycle:
- University of Texas at Austin faculty
- University of Texas at Austin physicians in training (residents and fellows), medical students, postdoctoral students and graduate students (with faculty supervision)
Proposal Requirements
Applicant proposals should accomplish the following:
- Address a clearly defined unmet health care need aligned with the challenge.
- Provide compelling preliminary evidence of the solution’s novelty and potential.
- Describe a commercially viable path to market.
- Present a realistic one-year plan with milestoens to mitigate the most critical risks.
- Outline the use of up to $50,000.
Timeline
- Application opens: March 17
- Information session: April 3 (RSVP to attend »)
- Application closes: April 25
- Finalists announced: May 30
- Mentor meetings: June 9-July 11
- Showcase event: July 23
- Award announcement: Aug. 11
Benefits
Texas Health Catalyst’s goal is to help innovators understand the path to market, refine their concepts, mitigate the most pressing clinical and commercial risks, and take concrete steps toward creating impactful health care solutions. To this end, Texas Health Catalyst provides accepted applicants the following benefits:
- Faciliated mentorship by clinical and industry experts
- Trained student associates to guide project development
- Invaluable insights on market potential and concept refinement
- Funding up to $50,000 to support critical research and development
- Subcontracts for the sole purpose of funded project activities
- Equipment, supplies and software for the sole purpose of funded project activities
- Principal investigator compensation (salary and fringe benefits)
- Resident, fellow, postdoctoral researcher, medical student and/or graduate student salaries
- Research staff support
- Software
- Indirect costs
- Administrative support
- Startup creation and support
- Computers
- Hiring expenses (background checks)
- Patient care
- Tuition
Contact
Questions? Contact the program at texashealthcatalyst@austin.utexas.edu.
Assessment Rubric
The program’s evaluation process ensures that proposals align with the overall goal of identifying health innovations with the highest potential for clinical impact and potential success. The rubric covers three key domains: clinical/scientific application, development and commercialization. Each domain includes specific criteria aimed at assessing the feasibility, potential impact and commercial viability of proposed innovationss.
The clinical/scientific application domain evaluates the potential impact of the innovation on patient outcomes and the scientific rationale behind it.
Texas Health Catalyst assesses whether the innovation addresses a significant unmet medical need, its potential to improve patient outcomes and its comparative advantage over existing therapies.
The development domain delves into the technical feasibility of the innovation, its intellectual property protection, resource availability, regulatory pathway and development timeline.
Texas Health Catalyst looks for a clear and realistic development plan, identification of key milestones and strategies to mitigate potential risks.
The commercialization domain explores the market potential, reimbursement landscape, competitive landscape and marketing strategy of the innovation.
Texas Health Catalyst assesses the potential market size, timing for commercialization, pricing strategy, barriers to entry and potential exit strategies.