The purpose of the NHLBI Innovators in Hemoglobinopathies Academic Career Development Award is to provide support for salary and research costs for up to 4 years for individuals with medical or doctoral degrees in clinical fields who are not fully established investigators and who want to pursue research careers in sickle cell disease and/or the thalassemias. The primary objective of this program is to advance the research career development of clinician scientists who have implemented innovative programs for patients with sickle cell disease and/or the thalassemias but have not been on a research track. Prospective Candidates are encouraged to contact the NHLBI staff for specific programmatic and budgetary information (see Section VII. Agency Contacts of this FOA).