Trainee Research Award

Q: What is the Trainee Research Award?
A: ASH will provide one award per training program per year in the form of $4,000 for research support for a research project of three months in duration and $1,000 for travel to the Society’s annual meeting.

Q: Who is eligible?
A: The program is open to medical students, residents, and selected undergraduates. Undergraduate students may participate in the program at the discretion of the training program director or mentor. Fellows are ineligible for this award.

Q: When is the application deadline?
A: The application process for 2008 is closed. Please check back for infomation on 2009 applications.

Q: Are indirect costs allowed?
A: Indirect costs are not allowed for any ASH Trainee Research Award.

Eligibility

The Trainee Research Award program is open to medical students, residents, and selected undergraduates only. Undergraduate students may participate in the program at the discretion of the training program director or mentor, and the training program director overseeing the research project must sign off on their application.

Institutions applying must have a training program fully accredited by the ACGME (or National equivalent) and must have a training program director in hematology or a hematology-related area. The program is open only to institutions in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.

Institutions and organizations that are affiliated with medical schools are invited to apply separately. For example, the training program director at a teaching or research hospital affiliated with a medical school is considered a separate applicant from a training program director at the same medical school. This allowance may rarely result in more than one award applying to a single institution.

Individual training programs are eligible for one award per calendar year.

Mentors may be either the training program director or an individual who will assume the responsibilities of overseeing the student’s work and progress. The mentor must be an ASH member.

Either laboratory research or clinical investigation is appropriate. Applicants are invited to be creative in developing opportunities for trainees that will favorably introduce them to the discipline of hematology.

Award

ASH will provide one award per training program per year in the form of $4,000 for research support for a research project of three months in duration and $1,000 for travel to the Society’s annual meeting. Travel costs over and above the $1,000 may be reimbursed from the research support award, at the discretion of the supervisor of training.

Additional awards may be granted to a training program provided there are unclaimed funds available. Participating institutions with more then one candidate can submit a list and must rank their candidates. Names will be selected in the order of their rank.

Application Process and Forms

The 2008 application process for the Trainee Research Award is closed. Please check back in the future for information about 2009 applications.

Research may be done during any three month period during the year. Research stipends are paid directly to the participating institution, not to the students. All resident awards will be assigned to the research mentor to defer the cost of the research project.

Training program directors or mentors may allot a portion of the funds to pay for mentorship activity related to the research projects.

ASH offers travel awards to recipients of the Trainee Research Award to attend the ASH annual meeting. The travel awards are for $1,000 and will be made payable to the trainee. The travel award is intended to reimburse the recipient for costs associated with attending the ASH annual meeting (i.e., – flight, hotel, and meeting registration). Travel awards will only be issued to those attending the annual meeting. Travel award checks must be picked up on site at the annual meeting. Checks that are not picked up on site at the annual meeting will not be mailed to trainees.

Benefits of Participation

Trainees will be exposed to research early in their career and hopefully be encouraged to continue research as part of their future training.

Evaluation

All participating trainees are required to submit a final summary of their work at the end of their research. The final summary is due within one month of completing the project. If a student needs additional time, mentors must submit a request in writing. All trainees will be required to submit documentation of progress, no later than November 15, 2008, to allow ASH leadership to assess the program’s success during the annual meeting Executive Committee review.

Trainees may not send ASH annual meeting abstract submissions as their final summary. Guidelines for the final summary should be strictly adhered to.

ASH expects mentors and program directors to document the career paths of participating students. ASH has set up a database to track mentors and mentees. All program directors will be contacted yearly for an update on each trainee who has gone through the program. Because tracking of trainees is difficult as time passes, ASH will also attempt to contact trainees directly, using e-mail addresses as recorded in the tracking database. ASH will use this information as one measure of success of the program.

If you have any questions or require any additional information regarding the ASH Trainee Research Award, please contact Joe Basso, Training Manager, at 202-776-0544.