UP FRONT
ASH Directions
ASH Commits $3 Million Annually to Help Preserve
Critical Blood Disease Research
Established in 2012 as short-term support for researchers affected by federal funding shortfalls, the ASH Bridge
Grant program is now a permanent Society offering. The
ASH Bridge Grant program started in 2012 as a short-term
pilot study to support researchers affected by federal funding shortfalls. In the years since, more than 80 researchers
have received these one-year awards. The long-term goal
of the award is to help sustain recipients’ research and contribute to their retention in hematology investigation.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the
world’s top provider of medical research grants. However, more than a decade of flat funding and spending
reductions have drastically reduced the agency’s ability
to fund innovative research. While NIH has received
due no later than October 31, 2016, at 11:59 PDT.
funding increases in recent years, its ability to back
For more information about eligibility criteria and
high-scoring proposals remains severely limited due to
supported research, visit hematology.org/Awards/Careerthe unpredictable nature of the congressional budget
Training/407.aspx.
process. This has resulted in extraordinary competition for NIH research project grant
(R01) awards, which prevents many
worthy projects from receiving
necessary financial support.
ASH established the Bridge Grants
as an innovative $9 million, fouryear pilot initiative to ensure that
advancements in treating hematologic diseases would continue in spite
of inconsistent federal funding. More
than half of Bridge Grant recipients
awarded from 2013 through 2014
have subsequently received R01
A new podcast for The Hematologist: ASH News and Reports is available
grants. This demonstrates the value
online. Tracy George, MD, and Rama Gullapalli, MD, PhD, of the
of this program in allowing critical
University of New Mexico School of Medicine, have a conversation with
research to continue.
The Hematologist Editor-in-Chief Jason Gotlib, MD, MS, of the Stanford
There are two award cycles each
School of Medicine, about lessons for clinicians and pathologists learned
year, and ASH membership is refrom the Theranos controversy, as written about in their recent Op-Ed
quired at the time of application for
available via hematology.org/thehematologist/Op-Ed/6540.aspx.
a Bridge Grant and throughout the
Access all podcasts and videos from The Hematologist on the ASH
award period.
website at hematology.org/TheHematologist/Multimedia. Make sure to
The eighth round of the award cycle
subscribe via SoundCloud (soundcloud.com/ash_hematology) and iTunes
is currently open, with applications
to stay up to date with new monthly installments. ●
New Hematologist
Podcast Focuses on
Theranos Controversary
Save the Date
The only official
2017 Highlights of ASH
®
in North America
Plan to attend one of the five meetings to hear a distillation of the new
discoveries that are moving the field forward and improving patient care,
and learn how you can apply those advances in your own practice.
Locations and Dates:
• Atlanta, GA (January 13-14)
• Chicago, IL (January 20-21) NEW
• Dallas, TX (January 20-21)
• New York, NY (January 27-28)
• Seattle, WA (January 27-28)
For the latest updates, visit www.hematology.org/highlights.
ASH HOA 2017 NA Ad ACN halfpage horiz.indd 1
9/30/16 2:09 PM