Awards

Apply for the ASH HONORS Award

The ASH HONORS Award offers two project options for medical students and residents who have at least 12 continuous months left before completion of their medical degree.

  • Summer project: to be conducted over a maximum of three months
  • Flexible project: to be conducted over a span of three to 12 months

Eligibility Requirements

At the time of application, the applicant must:

  • Be an ASH member in good standing or have a membership application pending. To verify your membership status, please log in to your ASH account. Not an ASH member yet? Take the first step. Submit your membership application at least three weeks prior to the HONORS Award application deadline to allow sufficient time for processing.
  • If applying as a medical student, be actively enrolled in an MD program at an LCME accredited institution or in a DO program at an AOA COCA accredited institution in the United States, Canada, or Mexico; or, if applying as a medical resident, have an MD or DO or equivalent (but not a PhD) and be actively enrolled in an internal medicine, pathology, or pediatric residency program in the United States, Canada, or Mexico that is approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or Royal College Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC).
  • Be working on a hematology project (e.g., adult hematology, pediatric hematology/oncology, hematopathology, blood banking/transfusion medicine) in either laboratory research or clinical investigation.
  • Have a research mentor at the institution where the research is being performed who is an ASH member in good standing. The mentor may be at the applicant’s home institution or from a different institution. The research mentor will assist in completing the program application, oversee the award recipient’s work, aid the recipient in his/her research, and ensure that the recipient meets all deadlines.
  • For applicants in four year residency programs (Internal Medicine and Pediatrics), you are eligible to apply in year one through three of your program.

The following individuals are not eligible to apply:

  • HONORS award alumni at certain career levels (individuals can only receive the HONORS award once as a medical student and once as a resident)
  • Medical Student Physician Scientist Award Alumni
  • Individuals who are currently enrolled in a combined MD-PhD program (students who earned a PhD prior to medical school will be considered on an Individual basis if their field of PhD study lies outside of biomedical science)
  • Individuals who have other concurrent funding for a similar experience
  • Medical students who are currently enrolled in a combined MD-PhD program and Residents who hold an MD-PhD (students who earned a PhD prior to medical school will be considered on an Individual basis if their field of PhD study lies outside of biomedical science)

Application Process

The HONORS Award application, as well as all supporting documents outlined below, must be submitted through the ASH online awards system.

All applications must include the following:

  • Applicant NIH Biographical Sketch
  • Research Mentor NIH Biographical Sketch
  • Research Mentor Letter of Support
  • Applicant Career-Development Plan and Personal Statement
  • Research Proposal

For more information about the required materials, please see the Required Documents PDF.

Apply now

ASH has moved to a new awards system that is attached to our member database. Please ensure that your information is up-to-date and correct, as we will email you from the primary email address in the database. You can sign in to update your information here.

Evaluation, Selection, and Notification

Applications submitted by the deadline will be reviewed by the HONORS Award study section. Applicants will be evaluated on the following criteria:

  • The quality of the proposed research project
  • The proposed research project’s relevance to hematology
  • The applicant’s interest in hematology and likelihood hematology will be chosen as a specialty
  • The applicant’s qualifications and experience
  • Whether the applicant’s background seems conducive to a future in research, taking into account his/her current status as a medical student or resident
  • The mentorship available and provided to the trainee

There is no limit to the number of applications that an institution and its affiliates can submit. However, no more than one award will be granted at each level of training (e.g., medical student or resident) for any given institution. For this purpose, ASH’s definition of “medical school” encompasses all affiliate institutions (e.g., University of Washington would include the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle Children's Hospital, etc.).

Terms and Conditions

All awards will be activated on July 1 and will conclude on June 30 of the following year. Payment will be made to the appropriate financial officer as indicated on the application. Research award funds cannot be deferred and are non-transferable.

As a condition of acceptance of the ASH HONORS Award, it is required that:

  • All funds must be used to provide the award recipient with a stipend and any supplies for the purposes of conducting the research submitted in the application. (Research awards may also be used for the student or resident to shadow a hematologist at the discretion of the mentor.) Indirect costs (e.g., facilities and administration costs) are not allowed. Violation will result in the revocation of the award funds.
  • Any visa and/or citizenship restrictions applicable to receiving the HONORS Award be the responsibility of the applicant.
  • The recipient cite support from the American Society of Hematology in any publication describing research conducted during the award period.
  • The recipient respond to all requests from the Society for information about the recipient’s career progress following his/her award period.

Final Report

HONORS Award recipients are required to submit a final report within one month of completing their project. The report must be sent to [email protected].

  • For summer projects, the final report is due by October 31.
  • For flexible projects, the final report is due by July 31.

Members of the Oversight Committee will evaluate all final reports, which will need to be approved before a travel award can be issued. ASH annual meeting abstract submissions may not be submitted as a final report.

Please note: Failure to submit the final report will render the applicant ineligible for the $1,000 travel award as well as future ASH funding.

Travel Award

Travel awards are intended to reimburse recipients for some of the costs associated with attending the ASH annual meeting (e.g., flight, hotel, and incidentals) and, therefore, will only be issued to those attending the annual meeting. ASH provides HONORS Award recipients with complimentary registration for the ASH annual meeting for the year of the award term. The travel award is non-transferable.

Award recipients are responsible for making hotel and travel arrangements for each meeting. Travel costs over and above $1,000 for each meeting may be reimbursed from the research support award at the discretion of the mentor.

Extensions

A no-cost extension may be requested, if needed. To request an extension, the award recipient’s mentor should submit a letter to the ASH Awards Department at [email protected].

Unused Funds

Any funding not spent by the end of the award term must be returned to the Society when submitting the final report. A check made out to “American Society of Hematology” must be sent to the Association.

Questions?

For questions about the ASH HONORS Award, please contact [email protected].