EHA-ASH TRTH

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EHA-ASH Translational Research Training in Hematology (TRTH)

Translational Research Training in Hematology (TRTH) provides junior researchers with a unique, year-long training and mentoring experience. The program is a joint effort of the European Hematology Association (EHA) and the American Society of Hematology (ASH) and is focused on helping early-career scientists build successful careers in hematologic translational research, including pathogenesis, diagnostics, and experimental treatment of hematological disorders.

Twenty early-career scientists are selected each year to participate in this rigorous training program. TRTH faculty is made up of international leaders in hematology who cover biostatistics and biomarkers, genetics and molecular biology, ethics, and phase I clinical study design.

Educational Objectives of the Curriculum

The TRTH program offers trainees the opportunity to:

• Understand the principles of translational research design and execution, including clinical trials with correlative science objectives.
• Detail the ethical and regulatory issues of translational research.
• Learn the fundamentals of competitive grant writing, abstract presentation, and manuscript preparation.
• Further develop and improve the quality of their own research proposals through input from faculty and peers.
• Learn strategies for pursuing and developing a successful career in hematology research.
• Discuss approaches to forming and sustaining a multi-disciplinary translational research team.
• Practice and advice on presenting your work to diverse audiences and preparing research results for publication.
• Develop contact with other trainees to facilitate future collaboration.
• Meet leaders in translational and clinical research who can enhance professional networking opportunities.
  
  

The Year-Long TRTH Program

The TRTH program contains: a week-long spring course, a meeting at the EHA Annual Congress where trainees work on refining their research proposals, and a meeting at the ASH Annual Meeting where trainees make a final presentation on the status of their research. Attendance at all three meetings is mandatory.

Spring Course

The week-long spring course includes the following components:

• Principles of translational research
  An overview of methodologies for designing and executing clinical research studies with laboratory correlatives will be presented. Topics will include stem cell research, animal models, live cell and in vivo imaging, flow cytometry, cell therapy, cell and biobanking, design of clinical trials, principles of bioinformatics, molecular pathogenesis including genetics and epigenetics, pharmacogenomics, diagnostics and biomarkers, and identification of molecular targets.
• Ethics in hematologic translational research
  Discussions will focus on ethical and regulatory issues in Europe and North America related to translational research. Topics will include good clinical practice (GCP), quality care assurance, good manufacturing practice (GMP), relationships with the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, and intellectual property.
• Career development insight
  Career retrospectives are provided from leading hematologists with a broad experience in translational research. Hematology pioneers will speak about their personal and career challenges and successes, and maintaining a work-life balance.
• Small-group working sessions
  Small working group sessions enable trainees to refine their research projects together with other trainees and faculty.
• Presentation of research proposals
  Trainees will present their proposals at the beginning of the course; at the end, they will present revised proposals that incorporate the changes made throughout the week.

Follow-up meetings

Two follow-up meetings provide additional opportunities for trainees to develop professional interaction with peers and mentors and refine their research proposals. The first follow-up meeting takes place during the EHA Annual Congress in June 2014. At this meeting TRTH trainees and faculty will continue to refine projects through small group mentoring sessions. The second and final follow-up meeting is held in conjunction with the ASH Annual Meeting in December 2014. During this meeting, TRTH trainees present the status of their research projects and careers since the conclusion of the spring course.

Eligibility

Applicants must meet the following criteria in order to be considered for review:

• Applicant must be a trainee or junior faculty and hold an MD and/or PhD or biomedical PhD or pharmacy PharmD degree (or equivalents).
• Applicant must be actively employed in a hematology or hematology-related research environment.
• MD applicants must be within twelve years of post-graduation at the time of the deadline for the Letters of Intent. PhD applicants must have less than eight years of post-doc experience after graduation. Applicants holding both an MD and a PhD must be within 12 years of MD-graduation. Exceptions may be made for interruptions in an applicant's academic pursuits; however, such circumstances must be explained by the applicant in the Letter of Intent.
• Both the applicant and the applicant's mentor must be members of either EHA or ASH at the time of submission of the Letter of Intent and throughout the term of the award program.
• Applicants from the same program of an institution are eligible to apply; however, no more than one applicant from any one program and no more than two applicants from any one institution will be selected.
  
  

Restrictions

• Applicants with certain professional credentials will not be considered, such as principal investigators, applicants holding more senior faculty positions, including being an established research group leader, and applicants who have obtained funding indicative of independent research status.
• Applicants working primarily on clinical research projects will not be considered.
• Applicants who have been granted an EHA Fellowship or either an ASH Research Training Award for Fellows or a Scholars Award are not eligible to apply for the TRTH program during the research period of the awarded project.
• Applicants who have been accepted to ASH's Clinical Research Training Institute (CRTI) program and are still within the CRTI program year are not eligible to apply for the TRTH program until after they have completed the CRTI year.
  
  

Costs

There is no registration or application fee, however, by applying, applicants agree that they will participate in all three meetings and respond to follow-up surveys in the future.

EHA and ASH arrange all travel and accommodation for the TRTH spring course and follow-up meetings as follows:

Spring Course

Travel, accommodation and food for the spring course are arranged and covered by EHA and ASH. Economy class airfare, up to € 1000, is arranged and covered by EHA and ASH.

Follow-up Meetings

Travel and accommodation for follow-up meetings are arranged and covered by EHA and ASH. Economy class airfare, up to € 1000 per meeting, is arranged and covered by EHA and ASH. Three nights accommodation, per follow-up meeting, are arranged in a designated hotel and covered by EHA and ASH.

The trainee is responsible for additional hotel nights and airfare costs above the established allowable amounts. Additional details of the TRTH travel policy are communicated to awardees upon acceptance into the program.

If there are special circumstances regarding the trainee's or institute's ability to cover additional costs, applicants are still encouraged to apply. The mentor should include an addendum that explains the financial difficulties that exist.

TRTH Application Procedure

Guidelines

The focus of the TRTH program is on laboratory-based translational research. Research projects must be hypothesis driven and directly connected to some aspect of human biology. Projects may encompass any form of cellular, molecular, structural, biochemical, genetic, or other appropriate experimental approach using human biological material or human subjects with the aim of reaching novel insights into human biology. Pilot and early phase clinical studies translating the laboratory discoveries "to the bedside" may be included in the proposal; however, pure clinical trial projects with laboratory correlatives will not be considered.

Proficiency in English is required.

How to apply

TRTH has a two-step application process which begins with submitting a Letter of Intent (LOI). Only selected applicants are invited to proceed to the second step of the application procedure. The applicant must be a member of EHA and/or ASH to be considered eligible for TRTH.

• Step 1: LOI
  
  Please access the online application form using the button at the top of the page. Complete the required information and submit your Letter of Intent, CV, and project abstract as an attachment. The attachment should be named as follows: LastName_FirstName-LOITRTH2014.pdf. (Example: Smith_Jane-LOITRTH2014.pdf).
  
  The call for applications is now open. The deadline for LOI submission is June 29, 2013.
  
  

• Step 2: Full Application
  
  Eligible candidates will be invited to submit a full application must submit a comprehensive translational hematologic research project proposal and other required documents by September 1, 2013.

Questions?

For more information, please contact the EHA Executive Office at training@ehaweb.org.

TRTH 2013 Award Winners

Previous winners of the EHA-ASH Translational Research Training in Hematology