Early-Career Scientific Research Grants Program

Early-Career Scientific Research Grants Program

Funder: AABB Foundation Inc

Overview: The AABB Foundation awards grants for investigator-initiated original research in all aspects of blood banking, transfusion medicine and biotherapies. The Foundation has awarded more than $12 million in early-career grants since its inception.

Grant Type: Seed funding intended to provide preliminary data for principal investigators on a path toward research independence.

Geographic Scope

• International: Early-career investigators worldwide are encouraged to apply
• Applicants do not need to be U.S. citizens
• Applications must be completed in English

Eligibility Criteria

Applicant Requirements:

Doctor (MD or PhD), medical technologist, transfusion medicine or biotherapies professional

Early-Career Status: Completed a terminal research degree or medical residency (whichever is later) within the past 10 years of the application deadline

Has NOT yet been awarded a substantial research grant (e.g., NIH R01)

Clinical fellowship training following internship/residency is not counted against the 10-year window; time spent in research training during fellowship is applicable

Career Limitation: No candidate is eligible to receive more than one AABB Foundation early-career Scientific Research Grant

Applicants with a master's degree may be eligible if working in transfusion medicine or biotherapies

More experienced researchers changing fields to transfusion medicine and biotherapies are eligible

Non-Discrimination: All applicants considered regardless of age, race, gender, national origin or religion

Research Focus Areas

Immunology:

Alloimmunization, immune modulation, and tolerance

Animal models for 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 blood groups

Infectious Diseases:

Studies on Lyme disease, West Nile Virus, SARS, babesiosis and other emerging diseases

Effect of allogeneic transfusion in HIV-infected and immunocompromised patients

Improved detection of transfusion-transmitted diseases

Biotherapies:

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

Evaluation Criteria

Applications evaluated based on:

Ability to meet eligibility criteria

Scientific merit

Relevance to and impact on transfusion medicine and biotherapies

Focus and appropriateness to scope of funding

Likelihood of yielding meaningful data

Likelihood of future funding potential

Project Terms

• Duration: One or two years
• Timeline: Starting in July and completion by June 30 (one-year terms) or two years ending June 30 (two-year terms)
• Award Amount: Does not change based on project length

Application Limitations

What Will Not Be Funded:

Awards will not be made to increase funding for currently funded research projects

No particular project can be funded more than once

Same project may be submitted twice if not already funded by AABB Foundation

Applications for the same unfunded project cannot be resubmitted more than twice

Selection Process

• Review Committee: AABB Foundation Scientific Research Grants Review Committee (GRC)
• Meeting Frequency: Committee meets once per year
• Outside Reviewers: May be consulted at committee's discretion
• Final Approval: AABB Foundation Board of Directors must approve GRC recommendations
• Feedback: All applicants receive a confidential critique review sheet summarizing GRC comments
• Publication: AABB reserves right to list grant recipients in publications, including title, PI, and funding amount

Contact Information

Email: foundation@aabb.org