Amid NIH Cuts, ASH Expands Eligibility for Midcareer Research Awards

The American Society of Hematology (ASH) has expanded the criteria for its midcareer research award to allow more investigators to apply, including those cut off from funding through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) due tox the “evolving landscape” under the second Trump administration.

Ivan Maillard, MD, PhD | Image Credit: © Memorial Sloan Kettering

The ASH Bridge Grant, which historically provides investigators up to $150,000 for a year, will no longer be limited to those whose applications have been reviewed and scored for the NIH’s basic research project grant, known as NIH R01. (Applicants for the ASH Bridge Grant will still need to apply for NIH R01).

In recent weeks, both individual grant winners and institutions have been told NIH funding will be cut, and key meetings for the grant review process have been canceled. ASH, which was already working to expand the Bridge Grant program, is adjusting its criteria to allow more applicants, said Ivan Maillard, MD, PhD, head of hematologic malignancies at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and chair of the Awards Committee.

“We were already concerned about the needs of our midcareer colleagues. These are people who are fully trained and vetted hematologists, who are doing important research that helps patients.”

The need for expansion, he said, “became even more significant with the recent events.”

The application deadline is May 1, 2025. According to ASH, eligible applications will be reviewed by the Bridge Grant study section and judged on their scientific merit and the applicant’s qualifications. Information on the application process can be found on the ASH website.

Bridge Grants have always served as a “lifeline” for midcareer scientists who are between funding, he said. “What we are trying to do here is to expand [the process] and reach out to more potential applicants who may need help,” Maillard said in an interview.

ASH announced Thursday that it would make the following changes to encourage applications from those affected by NIH cuts or delays:

• Former Bridge Grant recipients can apply for a new award
• The standard application can be used by those whose proposal cleared review but was not discussed in a study section; study sections allow experts to review proposals and offer feedback; multiple sections have been canceled since January 2025
• Those with a proposal that has not received a critique can apply with a modified application
• Requirements for an institutional match requirement have been dropped and institutional support can be shown through a letter
• A prior limit on “other resources” has been increased to $500,000; the Trump administration has proposed significant cuts for “indirect costs” of research grants; these cuts have been blocked by the courts for now, but uncertainty remains

Maillard said ASH has a $1 million commitment for Bridge Grants in 2025, but the organization “is prepared to extend that commitment and resources in response to the caliber and size of the applicant pool.”

Donations to the ASH Foundation’s greatest needs fund will be used to support additional grantees, he said.

Created in 2012, the ASH Bridge Grants keep research going for midcareer investigators who are between funding sources. ASH reported Thursday that Bridge Grants have funded 180 research projects, for a total of $27 million; 70% of the projects later received R01 funding. Past projects have led to advances in pediatric leukemia, sickle cell disease, and immunotherapy techniques.

ASH’s decision comes as the hematology field has experienced a string of breakthroughs over the past decade; leaders want to keep up the momentum despite funding challenges. Funding disruptions at this point could slow progress, “or even prevent the development of new, promising treatments that might not be available otherwise,” Maillard said.

By contrast, keeping projects going “could have a very direct impact on people's lives and on the availability of new, modern treatments, across a wide range of blood disorders.”

For example, a trial presented in December 2024 at the group’s annual meeting showed that adding blinatumomab to chemotherapy increased disease-free survival 61% among children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common type. Each year at ASH, more data are presented on new therapeutic classes and technologies, such as treatments for sickle cell disease or advances to treat blood clotting disorders.

“There's a paradox there that this is a particularly exciting time in terms of what's in the pipeline and what could potentially reach patients,” Maillard said. “At the same time, these difficulties in funding critical research are happening.”

Maillard said ASH expects the applicant pool to increase, and the organization is committed to supporting as many investigators as possible. “We certainly are working hard to get additional donations into the ASH Foundation that are going to be channeled directly into supporting more projects,” he said.