PACE Award
This award has been made possible with unrestricted grants from BMS and Takeda to support the optimisation of care for patients with blood disorders.
The call for applications for the PACE Award 2025 is now CLOSED.
The “PACE Award” jury will select 1 or 2 innovative projects on the optimisation of care for patients with blood disorders, which will be granted with a prize of up to 20.000 EUR.
The award ceremony will take place during 40th BHS general annual meeting on February 7-8, 2025.
Discover the past PACE AWARD winners down below!
Sincerely,
Prof. Marc André, President of the BHS
Participation requirements
The application must preferably be written in English** and must consist of :
- an information form containing the different project members and including the curriculum vitae of the applicant
- a summary in abstract format with a maximum of 2500 characters (including spaces) for possible publication in the Belgian Journal of Hematology
- a detailed project form with a maximum of 3 pages including a budget estimate Detailed project form PACE award 2025.docx
* templates are available in the online submission tool
** applications in French or Dutch are acceptable, but the abstract/summary must be in English
The full SOP PACE Award (including guidelines, terms and conditions) can be consulted here:
Who can apply?
The candidate must fulfill all criteria below:
- be a natural person
- be a member of BHS
- may not be an employee of the pharmaceutical industry
The BHS encourages projects that:
- involves a multidisciplinary team: the project must be supervised by a hematologist but the project leader can be one paramedical professional practicing in a hospital setting (ie. nurse, social worker, pharmacist, physiotherapist)
- consults patients or patient organisations
Which projects are eligible?
- Clinical projects focused on the optimiastion of care for patients with blood disorders, both in hospital or outpatient setting (but with a link to the hospital).
- The project must not fall within the definition of clinical research and may not be directly or indirectly linked to the use of a specific pharmaceutical specialty.
- The project must be carried out in compliance with the Protection of Privacy Law.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please be informed non-selected projects from previous years may be resubmitted if they meet the eligibility criteria.
Evaluation criteria
- Relevance and impact of the project in the improvement of patient care (25%)
- Originality of the project in terms of the proposed theme (25%)
- Feasibility of the project (25%)
- Multidisciplinarity aspect of the project (10%)
- Consultation of patients or patient organisations (10%)
- Relevance of the budgetary estimate (5%)
The Prize awards
A total cash prize award of 20.000 euros will be given to a maximum of 2 winners:
- 1 grant of 20.000 euros, or
- 2 granted allocated as follows:
10.000 euros each, or
1st Prize: 15.000 euros and 2nd Prize: 5.000 euros
Please note that the prize money cannot be allocated to fund a salary, but it can cover activity and material costs.
Past winners
2025
| Name | Organisation | Team | Project title |
| Ann Devos | University Hospital Antwerp | Clinical team Ann Devos, Pediatric Hematology Nurse, University Hospital Antwerp Dr. Philip Maes, Pediatric Hematologist, University Hospital Antwerp Nathalie Van Meerbeeck, Pediatric Pain Coordinator, University Hospital Antwerp Dr. Ann Van De Velde, Hematologist, University Hospital Antwerp University of Antwerp Team Anton Voordeckers, Faculty of Design Sciences, University of Antwerp, Belgium Regan Watts, Faculty of Design Sciences, University of Antwerp, Belgium Stijn Verwulgen , Faculty of Design Sciences, University of Antwerp, Belgium | "Draw on it": Improved pain documentation in young patients with sickle cell disease |
| Koen Theunissen | Virga Jessa Ziekenhuis | A family-centered child-friendly approach in the hematology ward |
2024
| Name | Organisation | Project title |
| François Dachy | CHU UCL Namur, site Godinne | Multidisciplinary care pathway and connected monitoring for allograft patients. |
| Marijke Quaghebeur | UZ Gent | Development of an Educational Motion Comic for Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: A Comprehensive Project Description. |
2023
| Name | Organisation | Project title |
| Koen Theunissen | Jessa Hospital | Customised educative children’s book covering a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation |
| Martin Colard | HUB - Hôpital Erasme - ULB | Development of an interactive smartphone app to improve multidisciplinary care for patients with sickle cell disease and other congenital hemoglobinopathies |
2022
| Name | Organisation | Project title |
| Benjamin Depoorter | HUB Jules Bordet Institute | Multidisciplinary approach of drug-induced polyneuropathic pain in multiple myeloma patients |
| Sarah Deuss | UZ Brussel | Development of diet guidelines for the immunosuppressed patient inspired by modern foodculture |
2021
| Name | Organisation | Project title |
| H. Schoemans | UZ Leuven | SMILe project (SteM Cell TransplantatIon faciLitated by eHealth Technology) |
| S. Servais | CHU de Liège | A personalized and illustrated roadmap notebook for children after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation |
2020
A. Janssens, UZ Leuven
C. Vierst, CHU Namur site Godinne
2019
S. Michiels, Institut Jules Bordet
K. Saevels, UZA
2018
B. Balci, Institut Jules Bordet
J. De Munter, University Hospital Ghent