HTRS Mentored Research Award (MRA)

Award Overview

The HTRS MRA Program provides grants for fellows or junior attending/junior faculty pursuing careers in clinical, translational, or basic science research in hemostasis or thrombosis under the guidance of an experienced mentor or mentors. Since the Program’s inception in 2007, HTRS has awarded more than $9 million in grant support for 62 Mentored Research Award recipients.

The Mentored Research Awards are meant to offer a stepping stone, on-ramp, or re-entry opportunity toward the NIH funding pipeline – specifically as a pre-K career development award (e.g. K award or equivalent).
 

Program Goals

• Increase the number of skilled physician-scientists and investigators in the U.S. and Canadian medical workforce dedicated to long-term research careers in classical hematology
   
• Support innovative research by pairing talented, promising young early-career physician-scientists and investigators with experienced mentors, many of whom are recognized leaders in clinical and/or basic science research in hemostasis and thrombosis
   
• Provide trainees and junior faculty in the U.S. or Canada an accessible “on-ramp” into either the NIH or CIHR research pipeline by funding initial research programs that can spark and support K-award applications (or equivalent)
   
• Upon completion of a project funded by the MRA Program, the recipient should be ready to apply for a larger-scale grant to expand their research such as a K08 or K23 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the U.S. or the equivalent from another agency such as the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

HTRS encourages applicants from historically excluded and underrepresented populations to apply, understanding that a diverse scientific workforce will, according to NIH research: foster scientific innovation, contribute to robust learning environments, improve the quality of the research, and advance the likelihood that underserved or health-disparate populations will benefit from this research.

This includes individuals from racial and ethnic groups who have been shown by the National Science Foundation to be underrepresented and/or historically excluded in health-related sciences on a national basis, as well as individuals with disabilities, students from low socioeconomic (SES) status backgrounds, individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, and women.

HTRS bases our diversity policy on that of NIH’s Interest in Diversity Notice.

In the application process, applicants will be offered the opportunity to self-identify as a member of a historically excluded and/or underrepresented population and provide a brief explanation.
 

General Eligibility Requirements

1. Eligible applicants must hold an MD, MD/PhD, PhD, DO, MBBS, or an equivalent medical degree.
    
2. Only applicants and mentors employed by academic, non-commercial institutions are eligible. Applicants must declare their intent to pursue an academic research career in hemostasis or thrombosis (or an academic research career that will have a substantial component of, or overlap with, hemostasis and/or thrombosis).
    
3. U.S. or Canadian citizenship is not required to apply; however, award recipients must agree to live and work in the U.S. or Canada for the tenure of their MRA-funded project. Non-U.S. citizen applicants with a J1 Visa waiver – even those in their first faculty positions – are encouraged to apply, as are those with an equivalent Canadian visa.

If applicants are also eligible to apply for the Mid-Career Research Award (MCRA), HTRS strongly encourages application to the MRA before applying for the MCRA, especially if K-Award funding has not been received.
 

Questions?  Email Jennifer Ziegler, Director, Award Programs and Career Development, at [email protected].