ASH Clinical News December 2015 | Page 111

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