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Process Development Grant

Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies

The AABB Foundation Process Development Grant supports projects that develop, implement, validate and scale processes, tools, technologies, and operational models.

Applications should propose innovative approaches that enhance efficiency, quality, accessibility or decision support to advance transfusion medicine and biotherapies for patients and donors.

Applications for 2027 AABB Foundation Process Development Grants are being accepted through Dec. 1.

Project Areas
The Process Development Grant does not fund basic research. Project areas can include, but are not limited to:

Operational process improvement
Product development and manufacturing
Quality control and assurance
Laboratory operations and safety
Blood collection and processing
Donor recruitment and retention
Information technology and informatics
Inventory management
Examples of previously funded projects:

GMP manufacturing process development supporting IND-enabling cell therapy work
Digital decision-support tools for disaster preparedness and operational resilience
Selection Process
A committee of expert reviewers appointed by the AABB Foundation will make funding recommendations, subject to final approval by the AABB Foundation Board of Directors. Applicants will not receive written critiques after review.

Selected recipients receive up to $100,000, paid in full, to support their proposed project over a one-year grant period. As a condition of accepting the award, recipients are expected to present updates or results at an AABB Annual Meeting or other AABB Foundation forum and must agree to attend.

Key Dates and Deadlines
The application submission deadline is 11:59 p.m. ET, Dec. 1.
Applicants are typically notified of funding decisions in June of the following year, and grant funds are disbursed in July. Applicants will not receive written critiques after review.
A final project report is due within 60 days after the grant end date.

AI Based Application Success Predictor

1. Direct Relevance to Blood Banking, Transfusion Medicine or Biotherapies

Importance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Critical

The project should have an unmistakable connection to AABB's scientific mission.

The Foundation explicitly funds investigator-initiated research in all aspects of blood banking, transfusion medicine and biotherapies and evaluates applications partly on their relevance to and impact on transfusion medicine.

Strong topics include:

Transfusion medicine
Blood component safety
Red-cell biology
Platelet biology
Immunohematology
Transfusion-transmitted infections
Patient blood management
Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation
Cell therapy
Regenerative medicine
Blood utilization
Donor health and recruitment
Blood-component manufacturing
Biotherapy development

2. Scientific Merit and Rigor

Importance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Critical

Scientific merit is one of the Foundation's explicit selection criteria.

A competitive application should contain:

A clearly defined research question.
Strong scientific rationale.
Specific aims.
Appropriate experimental or clinical design.
Valid methods.
Appropriate controls.
Statistical analysis.
Defined outcomes.
Realistic interpretation of results.
Appropriate alternative strategies.

The proposal should make it clear that the proposed experiments can actually answer the research question.

3. Innovation and Originality

Importance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Critical

Innovation is particularly important because the Foundation explicitly states that innovative, new projects receive priority. It does not intend its early-career grant simply to increase funding for an already-funded research program.

The strongest proposals should introduce something meaningfully new, such as:

A new transfusion strategy.
Novel blood-component technology.
New diagnostic/assay methodology.
New understanding of transfusion reactions.
Novel cell-therapy approach.
New blood-product manufacturing method.
New immunohematology mechanism.
New patient-blood-management intervention.
Innovative computational/informatics approach.

4. Likelihood of Generating Meaningful Data

Importance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Critical

The Foundation explicitly evaluates the likelihood that the project will yield meaningful data.

This means the application should demonstrate that the project is:

Focused enough to complete.
Scientifically testable.
Appropriately powered where relevant.
Supported by suitable preliminary evidence where useful.
Capable of producing interpretable results.

A small grant should produce a meaningful scientific result rather than merely exploratory data with no clear next step.

5. Potential to Advance the Applicant Toward Research Independence

Importance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Very High

The Early-Career Grant is specifically intended for investigators on a path toward research independence.

The application therefore benefits from showing:

AABB funding → independent research direction → preliminary data → publications → larger external funding

The Foundation's application materials specifically ask the PI to explain how AABB Foundation funding will further their research independence.

This is an important distinction from a conventional project grant: the Foundation is investing in both the science and the investigator.

6. Strong Potential for Future External Funding

Importance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Very High

The Foundation explicitly lists future funding potential among its review criteria.

A strong application should explain how the proposed research can generate:

Preliminary data for an NIH application.
Data for a larger foundation grant.
Evidence for a multicenter study.
Proof of concept for a new technology.
Evidence supporting a clinical trial.
A foundation for an independent research program.

AABB's reported outcomes support this emphasis: Foundation Scholars average about 20 peer-reviewed publications within three years of completing their grant, and many subsequently achieve strong NIH funding performance.

7. Strong Fit With a Defined AABB Research Content Area

Importance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Very High

AABB provides specific research content areas, including:

Immunology

Alloimmunization
Immune modulation/tolerance
Graft-versus-host disease
Autoimmune hemolytic anemia

Hematology

Stem-cell transplantation
Residual disease detection
Growth factors
Coagulation-factor biochemistry

Immunohematology

Blood-group serology
Red-cell antigen biochemistry
Molecular genetics of blood groups

Infectious diseases

Transfusion-transmitted infections
Emerging infections
Transfusion in immunocompromised patients

Biotherapies

Cell culture/expansion
Novel cell therapies
Regenerative medicine
Stem-cell transplantation
Cytokines/growth factors

Patient Blood Management

Anemia treatment
Blood recovery
Surgical hemostasis
Appropriate transfusion indications
Blood utilization
Physician behavior change.

A proposal that fits clearly within one of these areas can demonstrate strong programmatic alignment.

8. Appropriate Early-Career Profile and Qualifications

Importance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ High

AABB's Early-Career Grant has specific eligibility requirements.

An early-career investigator generally must have completed a terminal research degree or medical residency—whichever is later—within 10 years of the application deadline and must not have previously received a substantial research grant such as an NIH R01.

Eligible applicants can include:

MDs
PhDs
Medical technologists
Transfusion-medicine professionals
Biotherapies professionals

The program is international and does not require U.S. citizenship.

9. Strong Preliminary Evidence Without Excessive Dependence on Existing Funding

Importance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ High

The Foundation's early-career grants are intended as seed funding to enhance preliminary data, which can then support larger grants.

However, applicants need to avoid:

Simply expanding an already-funded project.
Budgetary overlap with existing grants.
Scientific overlap with a mentor's funded work.
Presenting a project that cannot demonstrate sufficient evidence to support the proposed aims.

The Foundation specifically lists insufficient evidence/data, flawed science and budgetary or scientific overlap with existing funding among reasons applications may be unsuccessful.

10. Feasibility, Appropriate Scope and Budget

Importance: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ High

The project must be achievable with the available resources and within the proposed one- or two-year period.

A strong proposal should demonstrate:

Access to appropriate samples/data.
Necessary laboratory or clinical infrastructure.
Adequate personnel.
Appropriate statistical expertise.
Realistic recruitment.
Achievable milestones.
A well-justified budget.

The Foundation's application guide also requires disclosure of current and pending funding and any scientific or budgetary overlap, making this particularly important.

Specialties

Hematology

Eligibility Requirements

Applicants can be a doctor (MD, PhD, or equivalent), medical technologist preferably with an advanced degree, or any transfusion medicine or biotherapies professional.
Applicants must be affiliated with an academic institution, research institution or other non-commercial organization.
AABB membership is not required.

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: 4550 Montgomery Avenue Suite 700, North Tower Bethesda, MD 20814

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