NIH SBIR Phase I · First cohort · 5 founders

Write a stronger NIH application. Without a grant-writer budget.

You know the science. You’re willing to do the writing. But you’d like someone to tell you when the aims are too broad, the evidence is thin, or the application is missing something.

That’s why we’re bringing five founders together: to share the cost of learning the process, with a private call and individual feedback on each founder’s science draft.

Dr. Ana Mesquita, Cada’s CEO
Planned cohort lead · 13 years in genetics, biochemistry, and cancer biology.

3 live working sessionsAbout 90 minutes each · Recorded

1 private project callUp to 45 minutes on your sticking point

1 written science-draft reviewSpecific Aims + Research Strategy · Then you revise

The work, session by session

Your application moves forward between sessions.

Bring a real project. Use the sessions to work through the decisions behind it, then put that work into your draft. The worksheets give you a starting point for the next piece, so you’re not opening a blank document after every call.

Find your fit

Week of October 12

Before you spend weeks writing, know where you’re applying.

A promising technology can fit more than one NIH institute. Learn how to investigate which ones fund work like yours, identify the questions to take to a program officer, and get the registration process moving.

The work you’ll take into Session 2An institute shortlist, a working submission calendar, and a rough Specific Aims page.

See the decisions we’ll work through

How to use funded projects to investigate fit for your technology.
What to check in the funding opportunity before committing to a draft.
How to explain your product and the feasibility question behind your aims.

Working materials: Finding Your Fit worksheet · Registration checklist and backward calendar · Specific Aims template

Build the research case

Date to be confirmed

“We’ll test the prototype” leaves too much unanswered.

What will you measure? What would count as success? What happens if an experiment falls short? Work on aims and a research plan that let someone outside your specialty follow the science and judge the proposed work.

Your next writing milestoneRevised aims and a Research Strategy outline connecting the need, the innovation, the experiments, and the evidence.

See what we’ll examine in a draft

Whether the aims describe work that fits the project’s scope and resources.
How claims about your technology compare with the available evidence and alternatives.
Whether the methods, milestones, and backup plans support the same research case.

Working materials: Research Strategy skeleton · Specific Aims self-review checklist

Plan the full package

Date to be confirmed

The science draft is one part. The rest needs a plan, too.

Connect the budget to the experiments. Work out which people, partner documents, and research-related attachments your application needs, and what you’ll need to request from someone else.

The work you’ll leave withA checklist of the remaining documents, budget questions, and submission tasks to complete for your project.

See what we’ll help you organize

The costs and supporting paperwork behind the proposed work.
Questions about human subjects, animals, and other project-specific requirements to resolve with the appropriate experts.
Letters, people and partner documents, and the checks to make before submission.

Working materials: Budget guide · Compliance decision checklist · Letter templates · Final assembly checklist

The cohort starts the week of October 12. Exact session dates and times, draft deadlines, and review dates will be confirmed.

Where your project gets attention

A template can’t tell you where your explanation loses the reader.

It can get you started. The private call and written review give you a chance to work through the questions that remain once you’ve put your own science on the page.

Ana has been on the applicant side herself, applying for funding through NIH, DARPA, DoD, and NSF.

We plan to workshop two or three volunteer Specific Aims drafts in Session 2, with each author’s permission. You can see how a draft changes when the group looks at what it actually says.

One private call · Up to 45 minutes

Bring the issue that’s holding you up.

Use your call for a project-specific decision: an aim that feels too ambitious, an unclear research focus, or a part of the plan you’re struggling to explain. It’s scheduled between the first and third sessions.

One written review

Find the gaps while there’s time to revise.

Submit your first Specific Aims and Research Strategy draft by the cohort deadline. An expert reviews the research case, clarity, feasibility, and gaps to address. You use that feedback to revise.

This covers one science draft. Budget and attachment guidance comes through the sessions and materials. A second review and ongoing revision support are not included.

A small example

Your reviewer shouldn’t have to guess what you’re building.

Technical founders often know their product so well that they leave the obvious parts unwritten. A reader outside the field doesn’t have that context.

A useful review asks for the missing explanation before suggesting a better sentence.

An illustrative draft line

“We will develop a novel biosensor platform.”

The questions behind the rewrite

Who will use it, and to make what decision? What does it need to measure? What will this study establish that you don’t know yet?

Illustrative teaching example, not a participant’s draft or actual client feedback.

Materials you’ll put to work

A place to start. A way to check your work.

The course materials follow the application you’re building. Here are four you’ll use along the way.

Finding Your Fit worksheet

Keep the evidence behind your institute shortlist and the questions for your program officer in one place.

Specific Aims self-review checklist

Check whether a reader can follow the product, the need, and what your proposed work will establish before you send the draft for review.

Research Strategy skeleton

Organize the argument and experiments. See which sections still need evidence before you polish the prose.

Final assembly and submission checklist

Track the documents and checks still standing between your science draft and a complete application package.

Also included: the registration calendar, Specific Aims template, budget guide, compliance decision checklist, and letter-of-support templates. Live sessions are recorded for participants.

Make room for the writing

This works when you bring a project and time to work on it.

You don’t need a polished application to begin. You do need a research project you can explain, access to the information behind it, and the willingness to draft and revise between sessions.

If you need someone to write and submit the application for you, this cohort won’t cover that work.

Live together

Three sessions of about 90 minutes each, plus your private call of up to 45 minutes.

Between sessions

Research fit, draft the science, gather information from collaborators, and use the working materials. The amount of writing depends on where your project starts.

After the review

Revise your science draft and complete the budget, attachments, and submission checks. You prepare and submit the final application.

Working toward January 2027. The appropriate submission opportunity and timing depend on your project and eligibility.

Before you join

A few practical questions.

What if I’m unsure whether my project fits?

Email Ana at ana@getcada.com with a few lines about your technology before paying. We also check fit at intake and refund you in full if the cohort is unsuitable. The course is built around an NIH SBIR Phase I application; other paths need a scope check.

What happens if I miss a live session?

The three sessions are recorded for participants. Recordings replace make-up sessions. Exact live dates and times will be confirmed before the first session.

Will Ana lead the sessions?

Dr. Ana Mesquita is the planned lead. The current service terms allow another Cada senior strategist to lead a session or private call. Each seat includes one written expert review of the first science draft submitted by the deadline.

Can I cancel? Is funding guaranteed?

You can cancel for a full refund before the first live session begins. We also refund in full if intake shows the cohort is unsuitable. The cohort does not guarantee an award, score, or completed submission. You are responsible for eligibility, research, revisions, and the final application.

Five founders · Starts the week of October 12

You do the writing.
You have help with the hard decisions.

Shared sessions. A private call. Written feedback on your science draft.

Claim your founding seat

Questions first? ana@getcada.com · Cohort terms