Council on Lifelong Congenital Heart Disease and Heart Health in the Young Abstract Travel Grant

One of the main objectives of the Council on Lifelong Congenital Heart Disease and Heart Health in the Young (Young Hearts) is to support trainees and early career investigators. The Young Hearts Abstract Travel Award recognizes meritorious work by early career investigators and provides a travel grant to attend the AHA’s Scientific Sessions to those whose abstracts place in the top 20 percent of their category. The grant will help alleviate expenses for these young investigators to travel to the meeting and present their research.

Eligibility Criteria

• All applicants for the Young Hearts Abstract Travel Award must be members of the Council on Lifelong Congenital Heart Disease and Heart Health in the Young at the time of application.
• Applicants must first submit an abstract in accordance with the rules and regulations for submitting abstracts to the AHA Scientific Sessions to one of the categories primarily sponsored by the Council on Lifelong Congenital Heart Disease and Heart Health in the Young. If your abstract is not accepted in a Young Hearts-sponsored category, you are not eligible to apply for this specific grant. View a list of Council Awards and Travel Grants Available by Abstract Category and Community (PDF).
• Applicant must be active in research and still be in training as an undergraduate or pre-doctoral student, or be active in research and within 10 years of completing medical fellowship (or residency as NIH states, MDs would be Fellows for 3-6 years of the 7-10), terminal degree or highest certificate (e.g. MSc, PhD), as of the award application date.
• Winners are not eligible to re-enter the competition in subsequent years.
• Only one candidate per mentor will be given an award.
• The abstract must be accepted to Scientific Sessions and receive a grade that places it in the top 20 percent of the abstracts in its category.
• The applicant must be able to present the abstract at the AHA Scientific Sessions, either in an oral abstract session or a poster session. If the applicant is unable to present the abstract, he/she will be disqualified from the award.
• Applicants must provide documentation of current status as a student, postdoctoral fellow, or faculty within four years of their appointment (faculty members with more than four years of faculty appointment or non-trainee investigators in industry are ineligible). Such documentation must be an original letter, signed by the candidate’s supervisor or an appropriate institutional officer. The letter must indicate the applicant status as a student, postdoctoral fellow, or faculty within five years of their appointment.
• Applicants are not allowed to apply for a travel grant multiple times with different abstracts for the same council award.
• An applicant is eligible to receive only one travel grant, even if multiple abstracts are accepted to Scientific Sessions.
• There are no citizenship requirements.
• Each applicant for AHA council-sponsored awards, regardless of award category, is eligible to receive only one council-sponsored award per AHA conference per year. (For example, an Early Career Investigator Award finalist will not be eligible to receive a travel grant for the same meeting.)
• Abstracts/manuscripts eligible for this award must be based upon projects that adhere to the American Heart Association policies governing all research awards, regardless of whether the project was funded by the American Heart Association. These policies are available here and include (but are not limited to) research using human subjects or animals and stem cell research.
• Notwithstanding the above, the AHA Officers have the discretion to determine eligibility for the award in extraordinary circumstances when there is an issue relating to AHA policy or positions or other potentially controversial issue relating to the positioning or perception of the AHA.

How to Apply/Required Documents

Electronic submission through the Council Awards Application System is required. Hard copies of any part of the application cannot be accepted.

** Candidates may apply for more than one travel grant; however, an applicant is eligible to receive only one travel grant.

Your application file should contain the following documents in PDF format:

• Candidate Curriculum Vitae and Bibliography
• Previously unpublished abstract in accordance with AHA rules and regulations for submitting abstracts to Scientific Sessions. The abstract should be submitted to Scientific Sessions before applying for this grant as your abstract control number will be needed on the application form.
• Original letter on electronic letterhead, signed by the candidate’s supervisor or an appropriate institutional officer, simply indicating the applicant’s status as a graduate student, postdoctoral fellow, instructor, or research fellow. No additional references are required.

Visit the Council Awards Application System to complete an application.

A username and password previously set up through online profile registration at Professional Heart Daily will be necessary to access the Application System. If you have not created an online profile yet, please visit Professional Heart Daily to create an online member profile before accessing the Council Awards Application System. AHA Professional Members who are creating an online profile for the first time should make sure to register using their AHA membership identification numbers.

AHA Professional Membership is required of all applicants for this grant. If you are joining the AHA to apply, please wait on your AHA membership number to arrive from AHA Member Services via e-mail before creating an online profile and starting your application file. We suggest that new members join the AHA at least 1 week prior to the application submission deadline. The membership number will be required on the award application form.

Prize

Grants will be awarded to four honorees annually. Each honoree will receive $1,000 to help defray travel expenses to AHA Scientific Sessions to present his or her abstract. The awardees will be recognized at the Young Hearts Council dinner at Sessions.

Questions