Bayer Awards $2 Million in Hemophilia Research and Patient-care Grants to 16 People

Bayer has awarded a combined $2 million in hemophilia research and patient-care grants to 16 scientists and doctors from eight countries.

Four of the winners are from the United States. Three represent the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and one the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.

Bayer announced the recipients at the Congress of the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis  in Berlin, July 10. The grants fall under the Bayer Hemophilia Awards Program.

The U.S. winners are:

• Dr. Ai-Hong Zhang of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. The assistant professor is working on treatments for undesirable immune responses. He is developing therapies that target specific antigens associated with the responses.
• Dr. Bhavya Doshi, a pediatric hematologist-oncologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
• Dr. Manjunath Goolyam Basavaraj of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He is working on clotting and hemostasis, or the stopping of blood flow, plus enzyme reactions and protein expression.
• Dr. Paris Margaritis of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The hematologist is using animal models to come up with a way to enhance coagulation. The approach he’s taking is to raise circulating blood levels of Factor VIIa, one of the factors involved in coagulation.

An international panel of hemophilia experts, doctors, researchers and caregivers selected the grant recipients.

So far, Bayer has awarded more than $33 million in grants for 280 research projects in 32 countries, according to a press release. The awards have led to more than 400 scientific articles and presentations.

The grants cover a range of projects. Examples include anxiety among women with hemophilia, using blood-clotting Factor VIII molecules to develop personalized therapies for hemophilia A, and professional relationships in patient care.

Last year, Bayer awarded grants to six U.S. researchers:

• Moanaro Biswas of the University of Florida Cancer & Genetics Research Center.
• James Dahlman of the Georgia Institute of Technology.
• Gary Gilbert of the Boston Veterans Administration Research Institute.
• Rahul Khanna of the University of Mississippi.
• Michael Milone of the University of Pennsylvania.
• Maurizio Tomaiuolo of the University of Pennsylvania.