2026 UNC Symposium on Hemostasis

About This Grant

Summary Funding is requested for the registration fees and travel costs of invited speakers and discussion leaders as well as registration fee support for graduate students, postdocs, and early/mid- career scientists with an emphasis on first-time attendees at the 2026 12th Symposium on Hemostasis at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. The theme of the 2026 Symposium is novel perspectives on classically understood pathways. The program is designed to bring together experts to present their most recent cutting- edge findings centered on defining novel mechanisms and innovative therapeutic advances in hemostasis and thrombosis. Recent studies suggest that coagulation proteins and platelets are tied to numerous pathological processes through mechanisms both dependent and independent of their traditional roles in hemostasis and thrombosis. Our invited speakers will present their latest and emerging work across a spectrum of basic science and clinical topics where coagulation proteins and platelets play a functional role, including cancer, infection and immunity, acute injury, and pregnancy. Priority will be placed on highlighting both the role these proteins play as disease modifiers, as well as the utility of employing or targeting these factors for diagnosis and therapy. A major goal for the 12th Symposium on Hemostasis is highlighting the translation of basic research findings into the clinical practice. Over 80% of our invited speakers will be presenting at this conference for the first time, and 30% represent early career faculty. In addition to invited speakers and discussion leaders, attendees will be selected by invitation and from submitted applications. They will be chosen to represent a broad, interdisciplinary spectrum of research topics. Additional efforts will be committed to recruiting first-time attendees as speakers in the ‘Hot Topics’ session and as poster presenters. An intended strength of this meeting will be the interaction and networking of young scientists in the field with the discussion leaders and the speakers. Collectively, the specific aims for the 12th Symposium on Hemostasis are to: (i) provide an environment that facilitates lively and open discussions between early career, mid-career, and established scientists that fuels the process of scientific discovery in the hemostasis and thrombosis community; (ii) provide a platform of support for the careers of junior scientists, including predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees, to ensure growth of the field; (iii) promote collaborative and interdisciplinary scientific research that opens channels of long-term interaction and networking; and (iv) provide a mechanism for clinicians to earn continuing medical education credits in the areas of hemostasis, thrombosis, and hematology. Through these specific aims the 12th Symposium on Hemostasis will reveal the next chapter of discovery and innovation for hemostasis and thrombosis research while helping to establish and build on the collaborative relationships necessary to push the field forward.