Moving biomedical discoveries from university laboratories rapidly to health care, or "translational research", has become a high priority in academia. In north America, federal, state and regional economic development agencies as well as private foundations are actively encouraging and incentivizing this "culture change" by sponsoring programs that accelerate the pace of research and development in biomedical technologies within universities. Such programs range from the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) of the National Institutes of Health to the Translational Research Partnership Program sponsored by the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation. By fiscal year 2012, CTSA program will support 60 sites at a total cost annual cost of $500 million. Although relatively modest in funding compared to the CTSA, the Coulter Translational Partnership (CTP) program is distinguished by a unique and highly creative "partnership model" where the foundation plays an active role in the design, evolution, development and implementation of the program, together with our partner economic development agencies and representatives  from our business development, legal, investment and entrepreneurship community. In this approach, scientific, technological and clinical proof-of-concept studies are conducted simultaneously with the commercialization proof of concept which entails intellectual property, regulatory and reimbursement pathway, market viability and commercialization prospects. This national "best practice" includes ten Universities (Boston, Case Western, Drexel, Duke, Georgia Tech, Michigan, Stanford, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin) Universities that demonstrate excellence and sustainability by institutionalizing the program will receive an endowment to sponsor the translational research to perpetuity.