The HTRS MRA Program provides grants for fellows (clinical or postdoctoral) and junior faculty pursuing careers in clinical, translational, or basic science research in hemostasis or thrombosis under the guidance of an experienced mentor or mentors. The MRAs 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. Eligible applicants must hold an MD, MD/PhD, PhD, DO, MBBS, or an equivalent medical or scientific doctoral degree. In the appropriate setting, other clinical degrees may be accepted and include nursing, pharmacy, or other allied health professional degrees. Only applicants and mentors employed by academic, non-commercial institutions are eligible. Applicants must be active HTRS members at the time of application.
Total Award
$165,000 over two years
Requirements
Award seekers must be HTRS Trainee- or Core-level members in good standing at the time of application.
Status & Deadlines
Letters of Intent Deadline: Friday, August 14, 2026, by 11:59 PM ET
Not a Member?
Visit the HTRS Membership Page to join.
Trainee-level membership is complimentary for the duration of your training. Several Core-level membership types are available to junior faculty.
2026 Mentored Research Award Recipients
HTRS is pleased to recognize the recipients of the 2026 Mentored Research Award and support their work advancing research in hemostasis and thrombosis.
Charlotte Story, MD
Johns Hopkins Hospital
Project Title
Clinical Outcomes in Complement-Mediated Thrombotic Microangiopathy Survivors
Charlotte Story is a third-year Hematology fellow at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She received her medical degree from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and completed her Internal Medicine residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Her research centers on thrombotic microangiopathies, with a particular interest in complement-mediated thrombotic microangiopathy and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. She is pursuing a career as a clinical investigator focused on improving outcomes in rare immuno-thrombotic syndromes.
Through the HTRS Mentored Research Award, Dr. Story will evaluate long-term renal and vascular outcomes in patients with complement-mediated thrombotic microangiopathy in the era of eculizumab using both retrospective and prospective approaches. Her work aims to define contemporary treatment patterns and long-term outcomes and inform endpoints for future studies.
Marissa Brake, PhD
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Project Title
The Estrogen-Dependent Regulation of FVII and TFPI and Risk of Thrombosis with Oral Contraceptives
Marissa Brake received her PhD from Oakland University in Michigan, where she trained under Dr. Randy Westrick. Her doctoral research focused on identifying genetic modifiers of coagulation factor expression and thrombosis.
She then moved to Boston for a postdoctoral fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center with Dr. Sol Schulman. Her postdoctoral work has focused on the genetic regulation of tissue factor and the association of these mutations with bleeding and thrombotic risk. She also helped identify new mechanistic biomarkers for cancer-associated thrombosis risk.
Dr. Brake is now an Instructor in Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. Her research focuses on understanding the genetic elements that contribute to sex-specific regulation of coagulation factors. Through her MRA project, she will investigate the genetic architecture of coagulation factor VII expression with the use of hormonal oral contraceptives, with the goal of improving prediction of thrombotic risk in women.