In the world of research, federal grants and awards provide critical funding that enables investigative research. Prestigious, competitive and highly sought-after, the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) grant program receives tens of thousands of applications each year; however, less than 20% of applicants are selected to receive funding. Since 1991, Versiti’s world-renowned Blood Research Institute (BRI) has been awarded millions of dollars of grants through the NIH, helping to propel exciting new research and discoveries in blood health innovations.
In the state of Wisconsin, the Blood Research Institute is one of the top three NIH grant recipients in the state. In 2017, it received 16 new grants from the NIH, and has received six so far in 2018. For example, in January, Blood Research Institute Vice President for Research Peter Newman, Ph.D., was awarded nearly $7 million from the NIH to study how proteins on the surface of platelets (which help blood to clot) become unintentional targets of the immune system, which can cause a severe bleeding disorder in fetuses and neonates. Thanks to the NIH grant, Dr. Newman will be able to research these proteins and lead the way for new diagnoses and personalized therapies for treating bleeding disorders.
Blood Research Institute investigators have also received the following NIH grants in 2018:
- Lynn Malec, M.D.: $21,000 to study if an intravenous treatment for von Willebrand disease (the most common bleeding disorder) is more effective than standard treatments
- Robert Montgomery, M.D.: $2,345,158 to better understand the genes that help blood to clot, and strategize new treatments for patients with hemophilia A
- Karin Hoffmeister, M.D.: $4,866,000 to create the Translational GlycOmics Program to train new investigators and translate glycosciences into regular clinical practice
- Gilbert White, M.D.: $1,419,932 to provide support for clinics to enroll participants from healthcare providers into the Precision Medicine Initiative Cohort Program
- Sandra Haberichter, Ph.D.: $1,683,273 to study von Willebrand disease and how modifications to the von Willebrand factor may affect patient treatment
Grants from the NIH and other organizations are crucial to the life-saving research being done at the Blood Research Institute. It’s thanks to these funds that our investigators are able to discover treatments and cures to help patients in our communities, across the country and around the world. Learn more about how you can support this ground-breaking work.