FEATURE
Interview
Bridging the Gap:
How ASH Bridge Grant Recipients
are Advancing Research
Biomedical researchers are operating in a tepid –
lukewarm, at best – funding environment. The National
Institutes of Health (NIH), a major source of research
funding, has experienced across-the-board funding cuts
and a steady budget decline, from a peak of $31.2 billion
in 2010 to $30.15 billion in 2014. Over the past decade,
research grants awarded by the NIH have also declined 20
percent – leading some young researchers in the lurch or
scrambling for scant remaining research dollars.
In 2012, ASH launched its Bridge Grant program
to help hematologists continue their critical blood
disease research amid severe funding reductions. This
grant program supports ASH members whose R01 (or
equivalent) grant proposals could not be funded by the
NIH, despite earning high scores. As of December 2015, 74
researchers have received one of the awards.
Recipients receive a total of $150,000 over one year,
providing short-term relief to help talented hematology
investigators continue their critical work while obtaining
additional data to strengthen their grant applications.
Research projects supported by ASH’s latest bridge
grants encompass a wide range of basic, clinical, and
translational hematology research, from developing new
treatments for infant leukemia to exploring the role of a
protein in malaria infection.
ASH Clinical News asked some of the most recent round
of winners how dwindling funding has affected their
careers and how their research has changed.
and the associated overhead is
needed to support their institute
and department. The funding
allows me to support students,
post-doctoral associates, staff,
and their experiments, and to
contribute to the quality of my
research environment through the
provision of overhead.
Silke Paust, PhD,
Baylor College of Medicine,
Houston, TX
ASH Clinical News: How
does NIH funding affect your
career?
NIH funding is essential to my
career. Tenure-track professors
are required to cover a percentage
of their salary with NIH funding,
ASHClinicalNews.org
Why did you apply for an
ASH Bridge Grant?
I applied for a Bridge Grant
because my initial NIH RO1
application on the same topic
was favorably scored, but not
funded. My reviewers made many
helpful comments, but some of
the required experimentation
for a resubmission will take time
and resources to complete. The
ASH Bridge Grant is the perfect
award for this because funding,
once granted, is available quickly,
and the amount is substantial
and supports elaborate research
– even approaches in animal
models, which are costly. Further,
the demonstration of funding on
a project increases the likelihood
that additional funding will
be granted in the future, by
demonstrating that experts in the
field have already once concluded
that the work we are doing is
important.
How have you adjusted your
research practices in this
funding en