Georgeanna Seegar Jones Award

Purpose

History and Legacy

Georgeanna Emory Seegar Jones, M.D. (1912–2005) was a pioneering physician-scientist whose groundbreaking work helped shape the field of reproductive endocrinology and infertility. After graduating from Goucher College and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, she joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 1939 at just 27 years old, becoming the first reproductive endocrinologist on the faculty of a U.S. medical school. Over the course of her career, Dr. Jones made seminal contributions to the understanding and treatment of infertility, including defining normal pituitary and ovarian hormonal cycles, identifying luteal phase defect as a cause of infertility and pregnancy loss, and advancing methods of ovulation induction. Following her retirement from Johns Hopkins, she and her husband, Howard W. Jones, Jr., M.D., established the first successful in vitro fertilization program in the United States at Eastern Virginia Medical School, resulting in the birth of the first U.S. IVF baby in 1981. A distinguished scientist, compassionate physician, educator, and mentor, Dr. Jones trained generations of reproductive endocrinologists and achieved extraordinary professional milestones during an era when few women held leadership positions in academic medicine. She became only the fourth woman to attain the rank of professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and, in 1970, became the first woman president of the American Fertility Society, now the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). Her lifelong commitment to scientific discovery, patient care, mentorship, and the advancement of reproductive medicine continues to inspire the field and serves as the legacy honored by the Georgeanna Seegar Jones, M.D. Women of the Hall Investigative Scientist Award.

Applicants

Preference will be given to investigators proposing translational or basic science research that advances IVF. Eligible applicants include:

• Investigators who hold a doctoral degree (MD, MD/PhD, PhD, ScD, or equivalent) and have sufficient expertise, commitment of effort, organizational structure, and operational effectiveness to successfully carry out the proposed research.
• Independent investigators serving as full-time clinicians, research scientists, or physician-scientists in academic institutions, private practice, or other nonprofit organizations.
• Funds may be used for support a new or ongoing research/clinical investigation project, including bridge funding. 

Principal investigators responding to this RFA are encouraged to coordinate their submission with others applying to this initiative if their individual projects are complementary. Even though each submission will be reviewed independently, meritorious applications that score high and appear to be related in scope and complementarity are going to be given preference for funding. Applicants are encouraged to highlight such potential interactions between projects in their applications.

Applicants need not be ASRM members at the time of the application but will be required to become members prior to the initiation and throughout the duration of funding. Awardees must maintain an active membership until the project is completed and has been presented at an ASRM annual Scientific Congress.

It is required that any research involving human embryos will comply with applicable federal and state laws and will be in line with the ASRM’s guidance document on the ethics of human embryo research. No research will proceed without all relevant Institutional Board(s) and Committee(s) reviews and approval.

Progress Reports

An annual progress report is required and will be reviewed by the ASRM Research Institute. Confirmation of progress report acceptance will be provided via email. 

Award Budget

The maximum total award per funded application is $100,000, including up to 10% for overhead costs. Funds may be used for support of a new or ongoing research/clinical investigation project. No clinical care costs will be covered by this funding opportunity.

Award Project Period

One year

Application

An application must include the following information in order as described below. Additionally, all letters must be included in your application package and cannot be sent separately or post application deadline. Please note: Letters outside the required department head or program chair letters are not required but you may submit up to 2 additional letters of support from collaborators/key personnel.

1. Title page
   1. Title of the project (not to exceed 200 characters including spaces)
   2. Applicant’s name and credentials.
   3. Applicant’s department affiliation and sponsoring institution.
   4. Contact information, including mailing address, telephone number, and email.
   5. Total funding amount requested
2. Letters
   1. Applicant letter stating career goals and plans for achieving these goals., including a lay statement of 2-3 sentences describing the relevance of the proposed research.
   2. Chairman letter (no more than two pages) acknowledging the applicant’s project and grant proposal, endorsing the applicant’s research, and confirming the institution’s commitment to provide time and support to the applicant. 
3. Abstract (One page maximum)
   1. Scientific Abstract (500 words) describing the research proposal, including the potential immediate impact of the anticipated results on the practice of reproductive medicine.
   2. Lay-person Abstract (200 words) describing the project in general terms
4. Specific Aims of the research proposal presented in NIH format– (One page maximum).
5. A research proposal should include the following sections (no more than five pages):
   1. Background and Significance
   2. Innovation and Potential Impact
   3. Research Plan (methodology and statistical analysis plan must be clearly described).
   4. Timeline for project start-up, implementation, and completion
6. NIH-style Biosketch:
   A biosketch for each primary or co-investigator should be provided. Each Biosketch should include a specific description of the role of each investigator in the proposed project and should not exceed FIVE pages (including the current funding).
7. Budget
   1. A detailed yearly and cumulative budget and budget justification for the project.
   2. No clinical care costs will be covered by this funding opportunity.
   3. Funds are available for project expenses, technical assistance, patient expenses, research
      supplies and durable laboratory equipment, analysis software, national registries, survey
      licenses, etc.
   4. Funds may not be used towards tuition reimbursement or degree-seeking courses.
   5. Indirect costs to the sponsoring institution are allowable but are capped at 10% for the entire
      project.
   6. If special consideration for budget allocation is needed, contact research@asrm.org for approval
      prior to the submission date.
8. Formatting
   1. The proposal must be typed in Calibri 12 pt. type with page margins no less than .5 inches and no more than 1 inch.
   2. Pagination should be included at the bottom of each page (excluding the Title page).
   3. The entire application must be submitted as ONE PDF FILE to research@asrm.org by 4:00 PM CST on January 4th, 2027. 
9. Regulatory Requirements
   1. Human and/or animal use must be approved by the Institutional Review Board or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, or their equivalent, and documented before funds are released, but pre-approval is not required for application.
   2. It is required that any research involving human embryos comply with applicable federal and state laws. No research will proceed without all relevant Institutional Board(s) and Committee(s) reviews and approval.