The ASH Committee on Training Programs and the Trainee Council announced the creation of the ASH Research Training Award for Fellows in 2007. Designed to encourage junior researchers to choose careers in academic hematology, this award provides funding to fellows in hematology, hematology/oncology, or hematology-related training programs who need protected time to perform research during fellowship training.

A report on the state of U.S. hematology training programs published in Blood in 2004 indicated that many programs find it difficult to provide meaningful protected time for fellows to do research. Today, research training accounts for less than 50 percent of the total training experience in the majority of adult training programs. As federal funding has become increasingly difficult to secure, programs are finding it more difficult to generate institutional support for research training.

Goals of this program are:

• To encourage and enable fellowship programs to provide time for research (clinical, basic science, or translational).
• To promote mentorship of hematology trainees by outstanding faculty members.
• To produce, on a yearly basis, clinician scientist candidates for academic track positions.
• To provide bridging funds for trainees who need more time to generate sufficient expertise to be competitive when applying for K award funding.

Support

The ASH Research Training Award for Fellows will, on a three-year pilot basis, grant $50,000 for a one-year period to third- and fourth-year trainees (at time of the award) in training who are not yet eligible for the ASH Scholar Awards (fellow category).

This award is intended to be used primarily for salary support for the applicant. However, up to $5,000 may be allocated for research supplies and reagents, and up to $1,000 may be allocated for travel to the ASH annual meeting (no other meetings are eligible for this allocation). Each of the non-salary support portions of the budget must be accompanied by a clear justification.

Awards will be activated on July 1 and conclude on June 30 of the year following activation. Monies cannot be used toward salary/benefits for the mentor or toward an institution's overhead or indirect costs. Payments will be made to the appropriate financial officer of the institution.

Eligibility Criteria

The ASH Research Training Award for Fellows is intended for upper-level fellows who meet the following criteria.

At the time of application (October 30, 2009):

1. The applicant must either be an ASH Associate member or active member or have submitted a membership application.
2. The applicant must not have any other career-development funding.
3. The applicant must have completed at least six months, but less than 18 months of post-doctoral research training.
4. The proposed research must be in hematology, hematology/oncology, or a hematology-related area.
5. The applicant should be planning to pursue an investigative career in hematology research.
6. The applicant must have clear and documented support of a funded mentor (funding may be NIH, federal, foundation, or private) and documented support from the program director for dedicated research time.
7. The applicant must have a mentor who is an ASH member. If the mentor is not an active ASH member, a letter of support from an ASH member must be included.
8. At least 75 percent of the applicant's full-time professional efforts must be devoted to research during the funded period.
9. No more then one awardee per fellowship program per year, and no more than one award per medical school per year. For this purpose, ASH defines medical school so that it encompasses all sub-institutions.

Requirements at the time of the award (July 1, 2010). The applicant must:

1. Be an MD, DO, DO/PhD, or MD/PhD
2. Have completed one year of clinical training within a hematology, hematology/oncology, or hematology-related training program in the United States or Canada
3. Be a third- or fourth-year trainee in a hematology, hematology/oncology, or hematology-related training program in the United States or Canada

The ASH Research Training Award for Fellows supports the same categories of research as the ASH Scholar Awards – basic research and clinical/translational research.

Letter-of-Intent Requirements

Applicants must submit a letter of intent by September 15, 2009, that includes the following:

1. A completed letter-of-intent form
   
2. Applicant's curriculum vitae to confirm eligibility
3. An abstract of proposed research study and a description if its relevance of the study to hematology

Application Requirements

Eligible candidates will be asked to complete an application which must include a:

1. Detailed description of the proposed research study, including information on the significance, originality, hypothesis, feasibility, and methodology
2. Letter confirming the availability of project specific institutional resources to support the proposed project
3. Letter co-authored by applicant and mentor detailing the applicant's career-development plan, current and future academic and research career plans, applicants' plan for degree and non-degree earning courses, applicants' attendance at workshops, plans for external grant submissions, and the mentor's plan for mentor-applicant interaction
4. Letter of support from an ASH member (if the identified mentor is not an ASH member)
5. Biosketch for the mentor(s) and the applicant including other support (active and pending); there is a four-page limit for each biosketch
6. Budget
7. Letter of support from the program director which must include statements:
   1. indicating that a minimum of 75 percent of the recipient's time will be dedicated to research
   2. defining the recipient's anticipated clinical responsibilities during the award period
   3. describing the training program's financial need for this award
   4. describing the salary support resources for all of the program's trainees (to include institutional funding, NIH training grants, etc.)
   5. identifying the source(s) of the applicant's other salary support if he/she is a recipient of this award

Selection

The selection of award winners will be made by a study section appointed by members of the Award Study Section. Criteria for selection are:

• The qualifications and experiences of the applicant. Factors to be considered include, but are not limited to the potential for future independent investigation and commitment to a career in hematology research
• Quality of the mentor and the plan for mentor/applicant interaction and career development
• The significance, feasibility, and originality of the proposed hypothesis, research, and methodology
• A focus on hematology research
• Availability of institutional resources to support the proposed project

Ten finalists will be selected to be interviewed by the Award Study Section. All finalists for the award must be available for face-to-face interviews with the Study Section in March. The interviews will focus on determining the applicants' commitment to hematology and potential for success.

Timeline

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