AABB Foundation Congratulates Recipients Of 2026 Grants

AABB and the AABB Foundation are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2026 AABB Foundation Early-Career Scientific Research Grants. This year, five early-career investigators were selected to receive grant funding for projects designed to advance blood and biotherapies.

“The AABB Foundation is pleased to support the research of five exceptional investigators this year. We applaud their work and the goals of their research projects, and hope this funding helps to further their efforts to drive new advancements in the field,” said AABB Foundation president Delisa English, MBA. “The AABB Foundation also acknowledges the generous support of many individuals and institutions who have contributed to make these grants possible. We are grateful for their support.”

Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than $12 million to early-career investigators through its Scientific Research Grants Program.

The Foundation awards grants for investigator-initiated original research in all aspects of transfusion medicine and biotherapies on the basis of their scientific merit, relevance, impact, focus and appropriateness to the scope of funding, and likelihood of yielding meaningful data.

Examples of topics are presented with our gallery of grant and scholar award recipients.

Many AABB Foundation early-career grant recipients have become leaders in their field and are recognized in the Foundation Hall of Fame.

Below are each grant recipient's funded project and a personal reflection on why receiving the grant has been meaningful to them.

Project Title: Leveraging NAD metabolism for optimal CAR T cell manufacturing

Project Summary: We discovered that nicotine adenine dinucleotide (NAD) synthesis prior to cell division is a gauge of T cell metabolic fitness that inversely correlates with function and persistence. NAD(H)-flow cytometry allows for selection of robust, long-lived T cells from a heterogeneous pool. We aim to define the epigenetic and transcriptional changes that underpin NADH-low, metabolically fit T cells and how they can be promoted through in vitro preconditioning prior to activation and CAR T manufacturing.

“This award arrives at a pivotal moment in my career. As a physician trained in transfusion medicine and an active laboratory scientist, I am committed to translating basic discoveries about lymphocyte biology into practical improvements in how we manufacture and deliver cellular therapies. Your support will directly enable three critical areas of progress. Beyond the immediate experiments, your support strengthens my development as an independent physician scientist. Translational research is often a long and uncertain path; awards like this provide not only resources but also validation that the questions we are asking matter. Your generosity also has a multiplier effect on the next generation of AABB members and donors; success breeds success. By investing in my early career, you are helping to cultivate a pipeline of investigators who will keep transfusion medicine, biotherapies and blood banking at the forefront of innovation.”

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Elizabeth Frost, PhD

Senior Research Scientist
The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia

Project Title: Alloimmune CD8 T cells as mediators of platelet refractoriness in mice

Project Summary: Using a mouse model of alloimmunization by transfusion of MHC-mismatched donor blood, we recently found that CD8+ T cells clear subsequently transfused platelets. Ongoing areas of interest include 1) whether CD8+ T cells directly destroy donor platelets and, if so, by which specific cytotoxic effector functions; and 2) other potential mechanisms of alloreactive T cell priming, such as exposure of the maternal immune system to paternally derived fetal alloantigens during pregnancy.

“I am truly honored to receive this Early-Career Scientific Research Grant and eager to move this project forward, with the hope that further characterizing donor-specific T cell responses in a mouse model of platelet transfusion will lead to meaningful advances in patient care. Although I only recently joined the field of transfusion medicine, I was drawn to it because of the immediate and tangible impact this work can have in the clinic. This grant is especially meaningful to me not only because it supports my work, but because it affirms that these scientific questions matter to the transfusion medicine community. Your generosity is not abstract; it is directly connected to the experiments I conduct, the questions I am able to pursue, and the potential to improve patient care. Thank you for making this work possible and for investing not only in the future of transfusion medicine, but also in my development as an independent investigator committed to improving patient care.”

Ethan A. Mack, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor
Columbia University Medical Center

Project Title: Impacts of sickle cell disease and red cell exchange on granulopoiesis and neutrophil heterogeneity

Project Summary: Sickle cell disease (SCD) causes variable disease severity, and neutrophils are known to drive worse outcomes. This work investigates how SCD reprograms the bone marrow to generate distinct neutrophil populations. Using single-cell genomics in mice and patients, we will define how SCD and red cell exchange transfusion therapy modulate neutrophil production and function and identify biomarkers to predict therapeutic responses, addressing a critical unmet need in transfusion medicine practice.

“Thank you for your generous support of the AABB Foundation and through that, the Early-Career Scientific Research Grant program. This grant will make a huge impact on me and my future as a researcher and clinician in transfusion medicine and biotherapies, as well as on the health of patients treated every day. The work I proposed in this grant aims to advance our understanding of how the immune system interacts with SCD and to identify new ways to treat SCD and other blood disorders. This work has the potential to improve the quality of life for thousands of patients globally. SCD is an underfunded research area, so any support for work on this important condition is greatly appreciated and necessary. It will also serve as a bridge for me as I grow into independent research and help me become competitive for large federal grants to support my work going forward. Your support for this critical work that I and the Foundation do is very much valued.”

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Andrew R. Milewski, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology
Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Project Title: Toward faster detection of hyperfibrinolysis

Project Summary: Early antifibrinolytic therapy reduces bleeding and mortality arising from hyperfibrinolysis (HF). Current methods typically require ≥30min to identify HF, during which bleeding may continue. This project aims to develop a computational algorithm that detects HF sooner, thereby enabling swifter targeted treatment and ultimately reducing the number of blood products needed to effectively treat bleeding. Open repair of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms will serve as a model population for testing this approach.

“As an anesthesiologist, I have seen first-hand patients lost to hemorrhage. I have dedicated my research to improving how we care for bleeding patients. As an early-stage clinician scientist, initiating studies and moving research projects forward requires significant amounts of time. The Early-Career Scientific Research Grant will provide me with the essential time to not only perform the work in this proposal, but to also build the foundation that is necessary for launching my career as an independent investigator. It is no exaggeration to say that this grant, the first that I have been awarded, will set me on a path to success. I am truly grateful to receive the support of this grant, without which the proposed research would not be possible.”

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Ifeyinwa Maryann Okafor, BMLS, MSc, PhD

Doctor
University of Rwanda

Project Title: Genetically informed transfusion strategies for sickle cell disease in Nigeria and Rwanda

Project Summary: This project will create the first precision transfusion strategy for sickle cell disease (SCD) in Sub-Saharan Africa. By genetically mapping 2,000 donors (1,000 from each country) and 600 patients with SCD (400 from Nigeria, 200 from Rwanda), we will identify dangerous blood group mismatches and produce an evidence-based "risk priority list." This research will help to prevent life-threatening transfusion reactions and establish a new, safer standard of care for the region.

“As a laboratory hematologist and researcher who has worked in both Nigeria and Rwanda, I have witnessed firsthand the devastating consequences of transfusion complications in patients with SCD. This grant represents validation of a vision I have carried for years: that we can use the power of genomics to transform transfusion medicine in Africa. This grant is a defining moment in my career. It positions me to become a leader in genomic transfusion medicine in Sub-Saharan Africa.  Your support is the foundation upon which this future is being built. This research will directly impact patients by reducing alloimmunization rates, preventing delayed transfusion reactions and making blood transfusions safer and more effective. Your generosity is not just funding a study; it is funding hope, dignity and a future where no person with SCD in Africa has to fear a blood transfusion. Thank you for believing in this work, in me, and in the potential of science to create a more just and equitable world.”

AABB FOUNDATION AWARD FOR INNOVATIVE RESEARCH

Renamed in 2016, the AABB Foundation Award for Innovative Research recognizes a scientist whose original research resulted in an important contribution to the body of scientific knowledge in transfusion medicine or biotherapies.

Simon J. Cleary, PhD

In recognition of his original research and important contribution to scientific knowledge in the field. Cleary's AABB Foundation-funded grant led to improved understanding of transfusion-related acute lung injury and interest in use of new biotherapies to treat antibody-mediated rejection in organ transplantation.

Since the completion of his grant, Cleary has been appointed to a faculty position at King's College London, won independent funding for his research and developed innovative approaches for imaging the lungs.