Each Bridge Grant provides $5,000 in support to trainees and early-career investigators from LMICs who applied to the TTS Research Grants competition and whose applications was deemed by the Awards and Grants committee to have strong potential but did not meet the threshold for funding. The goal of this program is to help recipients refine their research methodology, gather pilot data, and position their projects for success in upcoming TTS or external grant opportunities.

As part of this initiative, recipients will also benefit from personalized mentorship through the TTS Research Mentor Program. Each Bridge Grant awardee will be paired with an experienced Senior TTS mentor from an established research program.

This year we welcome Dr. Mara McAdams DeMarco as our 2025 Bridge Grant Mentor who will work with awardee Getahun Mulugeta and his local mentor, Leja Hamza Juhar. She will provide tailored guidance to help enhance study design, strengthen analyses, and develop a more competitive research application. This program underscores TTS’s commitment to building research capacity within the global transplantation community and cultivating the next generation of leaders in transplantation.