Early-Career Scientific Research Grants Program

The Early-Career Scientific Research Grants Program, funded by the American Association of Blood Banks, supports innovative research in blood banking and transfusion medicine. With over $12 million awarded since its inception, this program prioritizes original investigator-initiated studies that can significantly impact transfusion medicine. Eligible applicants include early-career doctors, medical technologists, and transfusion professionals. Applications are accepted annually from July 1 to December 1, with a focus on projects that yield meaningful data.

NOTE: Applications are accepted from July 1 through December 1 of the annual application year.
The AABB Foundation has awarded more than $12 million in early-career grants since its inception. The AABB Foundation awards grants for investigator-initiated original research in all aspects of blood banking, transfusion medicine and biotherapies. Grant applications are evaluated on the basis of their scientific merit, relevance to and impact on transfusion medicine, focus and appropriateness to the scope of funding, and likelihood of yielding meaningful data.
Research Content Areas:

• Immunology
• Alloimmunization, immune modulation, and tolerance
• Animal models for the study of graft-vs-host disease
• Biology of autoimmune hemolytic anemia
• Hematology
• Autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplants
• Detection of residual disease following stem cell transplants
• Effects of growth factors in vitro and in vivo
• Biochemistry of coagulation factors
• Immunohematology
• Blood group serology
• Biochemistry of red cell antigens
• Molecular genetics of the blood groups
• Infectious Diseases
• Studies on Lyme disease, West Nile Virus, SARS and babesiosis and other emerging diseases
• Effect of allogeneic transfusion in HIV-infected and immunocompromised patients
• Improved detection of transfusion - transmitted diseases
• Cellular Therapies
• Cell separation, cell culture or expansion studies for cell therapy applications
• Development of novel cell therapies or assays to measure cell viability or function
• Pilot studies in regenerative medicine
• Studies on mechanisms or roles of cells in stem cell transplantation
• Studies on cytokines or growth factors involved in stem cell differentiation
• Patient Blood Management

Treatment of pre-admission anemia and bleeding tendencies; Intraoperative/postoperative blood recovery; Surgical hemostasis; Appropriate indications for transfusion; Changing physician behaviors; Blood utilization review.
Grants applications are evaluated on the basis of their scientific merit, relevance to and impact on transfusion medicine, focus and appropriateness to the scope of funding, and likelihood of yielding meaningful data.
Application Submission Criteria
No particular project can be funded more than once.An application for the same project may be submitted twice if not already funded by the AABB Foundation.Awards will not be made to increase the funding available for currently funded research projects. AABB Foundation early-career grants are intended to provide "seed" funding that allows the principal investigator to enhance preliminary data. This data may then be useful in applying for larger grants.

Eligibility

An applicant must be a doctor (MD or PhD), medical technologist (preferably with an advanced degree, master's degrees are eligible), or any transfusion medicine or biotherapies professional.All applicants will be considered regardless of age, race, gender, national origin or religion.The Foundation accepts early-career applicants worldwide.An early-career investigator is an investigator who has completed a terminal research degree or medical residency – whichever date is later – within the past 10 years of the grant application deadline and has not yet been awarded a substantial research grant (i.e. NIH R01). Of note, there is a 13-month period during which an investigator can resubmit a revised application and retain early-stage investigator status.Clinical fellowship training in a medical specialty or subspecialty training in the years that follow the internship/residency period is not considered a part of the residency. Often the clinical fellowship period will consist of a mixture of clinical and research training. The time spent in research training will be considered as applicable toward the 10 years of research and research training.If you have competed successfully for a substantial research grant (i.e. NIH R01) at any time in your career, you are NOT considered early-career and are, therefore ineligible for an AABB Foundation early-career Scientific Research Grant.The AABB Foundation's intention is to fund researchers on a path toward research independence.

Ineligibility

No candidate is eligible to receive more than one AABB Foundation early-career Scientific Research Grant in the course of their career.