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Each year, the ATS Foundation Research Program awards grants totaling more than $1 million to advance pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine around the world. Laura Crotty Alexander, MD, is one of 25 researchers who received a grant and was presented with a Recognition Award for Outstanding Early Career Investigators in the 2016-2017 cycle for her research into the effects of e-cigarette vapor. Dr. Crotty Alexander was inspired to study e-cigarettes after witnessing the increasingly successful advertising of the devices. She found that there were many unanswered questions about the effects of e-cigarettes on nicotine addiction pathways, the immune system’s response to bacteria, and inflammation in the lungs and throughout the body. On her recognition, Dr. Crotty Alexander says, “There are researchers who believe in me as a researcher and believe in our research. It boosts my self-confidence about whether I’m a good researcher who’s asking the right questions and proposing the best research models.”  With her award, Dr. Crotty Alexander will continue her research of e-cigarette vapor. Previously in 2015, she was a winner of the ATS 1st Annual BEAR Cage competition for her research proposal “Effects of E-Cigarette Vapor on Viability, Inflammatory Responses and Antimicrobial Function of Airway Cells.” The 3rd  Annual BEAR Cage will take place at ATS 2017 DC. If interested in applying for a Foundation Research Program award, the 2017‒2018 grant cycle opens in April. Check back for details.