The Discovery and Innovation Award

Western New York BloodCare (WNYBC) was founded as the Hemophilia Center of Western New York (WNY) in 1969 and is now the region’s premier Hemophilia Treatment Center. We specialize in state-of-the-art diagnostic, clinical, and pharmaceutical services, as well as research, advocacy, education and community outreach — all to provide the most comprehensive, compassionate, and complete care possible. We are proud to have served patients and their families across WNY’s eight counties for more than 50 years.

• Mission: To foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing, harness local expertise to make meaningful, impactful, and intentional use of funding to support basic, translational, clinical, health equity, outcomes, and public health research at a local, regional, and national level.

• Vision: To improve health outcomes and prevent complications of hemophilia and other complex hemostatic and thrombotic disorders, by creating an interdisciplinary program of research, integrated interprofessional training and clinical care for all.

This program has been established by the WNYBC Research and Training Initiative (RTI) to promote, nurture, and amplify scientific discovery and innovation in Western New York and the region (HRSA Region II). The WNYBC Discovery and Innovation Award will support basic, translational, and/or clinical research projects that will improve health outcomes, health equity, and/or prevent complications of hemophilia and/or hemostatic or thrombotic disorders, including:

(a) joint disease
(b) inhibitor formation
(c) Hepatitis C and/or HIV disease
(d) perinatal hemostasis
(e) complications of bleeding disorders
(f) new technologies for  diagnosis/therapeutics
(g) novel therapeutics
(h) women with bleeding disorders
(i) von Willebrand disease
(j) thrombophilia
(k) models of care as it pertains to bleeding and clotting disorders, and other diagnoses as designated by the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA).

Eligibility: The program invites proposals from higher education institutions (public/state controlled, private), and non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations that have a history and track record of serving the community of bleeding and clotting disorders. Principal Investigators/Program Directors (PI/PDs) who may apply are any individuals with the skills, knowledge, required resources, and who can apply through their organization. There is no age requirement, however, applicant must have an MD, PhD, or equivalent; clearly state they have both independent research projects and independent resources; and have preliminary results/and or publications from their independent laboratory.

Grant amount: Budget must not exceed $150,000/year, for up to three years (totaling $450,000). Up to two grants will be awarded annually.

Investigators are invited to submit applications requesting support through this program, and proposals will be reviewed by the Research Committee of WNYBC RTI on an annual basis.
Priority will be given to applications that:

1. Have a high likelihood for success in terms of significant impact on individuals with Hemophilia and/or hemostatic and thrombotic disorders;
2. Provide training opportunities for physician scientists and biomedical researchers;
3. Promote diversity and include collaborative efforts with a Hemophilia Treatment Center.

The administrative overhead should not exceed 10% of requested funds. The PI salary request should be for less than 5% effort. The funds should not be requested for capital improvement, payment of rents, construction, or paying monthly bills. By accepting support from this program, PIs will commit to present at an annual symposium organized by the RTI and submit six-month progress reports. This symposium will be an outreach to leading experts in hemostatic/thrombotic disorders and patients and their families. PIs also agree to acknowledge the financial support in their meeting presentations and publications. The duration of the proposal is for three years contingent upon meeting progress metrics (reviewed by Research Committee) such as publications in leading peer-reviewed journals and presentation at national and international conferences (i.e., Thrombosis and Hemostasis Society of North America, ASH). In select cases, revisions of applications responding to critiques will be permitted.

Timeline for Research grant process:
Call for Proposals sent out: March 1, 2023
Application due: June 1, 2023
Review of the proposals: July 1, 2023
Decisions/approval: August 15, 2023
Award Letters: October 1, 2023
Grant start date: January 1, 2024
1 year Report due: Jan 1, 2025
2 year report (for multi-year awards): Jan 1, 2026
3 year report (for multi-year awards): Jan 1, 2027
Annual symposia: March 2024 (1 year data), March 2025 (1 year data), March 2026 (2 year
data for multi year awards), March 2027 (3 year data for multi-year awards)

General guidelines:
Document Format: Arial or Calibri font, size 11; single or 1.5” spacing, 0.5 inch margins all around.

Submission Guidelines:

1. Cover Page

a. Title of Project
b. Institution
c. Principal Investigator
d. Contact information for Primary contact
e. A brief paragraph describing how this research will have a significant impact on improving health outcomes and/or preventing complications for individuals with Hemophilia and/or hemostatic and thrombotic disorders.

2. Lab focus of Research
3. Proposal of specific program for which finds are being requested

a. Introduction (2 pages)
b. Specific aims (1 page)
c. Discovery and Innovation: Describe more fully how this research will have a significant impact on individuals with Hemophilia and/or hemostatic and thrombotic disorders; provide training opportunities for physician scientists and
biomedical researchers; and promote diversity and collaborative efforts with a Hemophilia Treatment Center (1 page)
d. Project Plan (2-4 pages)
e. Timeline (1 page)

4. Project budget and amount being requested from WNYBC

a. Funds may be used for salary, supplies, equipment, or technical assistance.
b. What other funding sources are currently in place for this project? What other funding sources are being pursued? If this funding request will supplement a proposal already in consideration or awarded by any other sponsor, give details on that funding including abstract and a paragraph discussing how the proposed request will not overlap with other sponsored funding.

5. Attach a biosketch (NIH format) for key personnel and optional for additional personnel.
6. Letter of reference from institution.
7. Optionally, you may include reports, and/or papers related to your topic of submission.
8. Statement about any potential biohazards describing the safeguards used to prevent such hazards to the investigator, other personnel and or any other individuals

a. WNYBC assumes no responsibility or liability for any such biohazards and shall be held harmless from the results of the use of any such biohazard material

9. Combine into one PDF in the order listed above (with your name and contact information as a footer on all pages) and email to mwiseman@wnybloodcare.org. All materials must be received in a single email by June 1, 2023, 11:59pm.

Required Acknowledgements: Western New York Blood Care must be acknowledged when presenting data from any WNYBC funded project including oral presentations, poster presentations, journal manuscripts, and publications.

Compliance: The Research Committee will track funded projects to assure compliance with IRB/IACUC requirements.

Review Panel: The Review Panel includes Scientific Reviewers who are members of the WNYBC Advisory Board. These individuals hold expertise, both medical and scientific, in the field of blood disorders and will conduct a thorough review process to determine the merits of each submission.

Please direct further questions to Marci Wiseman at mwiseman@wnybloodcare.org