Last Update: September 2009

If your research will be conducted in one of the following states, you are eligible to apply to the Great Rivers Affiliate: Delaware, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia

• Begin your application early to allow all parties time to complete the process. 
• The applicant must submit the completed application to the grants officer selected in the application.  It is the applicant's responsibility to contact the grants officer and/or monitor the status of his/her own application.
• The grants officer is the only person who can submit an application to the AHA.  Check with your grants officer for his/her internal institutional deadline.  Allow plenty of time for your grants officer to review and reject or submit the application to the AHA. 
• Once the application is submitted to the AHA by the grants officer, it cannot be changed or modified in any way.  It will go to peer review as received unless it is withdrawn.
• Refer to Related Items at right of this screen for useful information.
  

Objective
To help students initiate careers in cardiovascular and stroke research by providing research assistance and training.

Science Focus
Research broadly related to cardiovascular function and disease, stroke or to related clinical, basic science, bioengineering or biotechnology, and public health problems.

Disciplines
Proposals are encouraged from all basic disciplines, including multidisciplinary efforts, as well as for epidemiological and clinical disciplines that bear on cardiovascular and stroke problems.

Academic Degree
Pre-doctoral Ph.D., M.D., D.O. (or equivalent) students

Target Market and Eligibility

• Post-baccalaureate, pre-doctoral students who are working toward a Ph.D., M.D., D.O. or equivalent degree and are enrolled in degree-seeking programs at accredited schools within the geographic boundaries of the Great Rivers Affiliate and who seek research training and experience under the supervision of a sponsor/mentor prior to embarking on a postgraduate research career.
• Medical students who wish to take time from their clinical training to obtain research training may apply. 
• This award is not intended for individuals of faculty/staff rank or individuals who have already attained a science-based Ph.D. degree.  An individual pursuing a second doctoral degree (e.g., an M.D., D.O., D.V.M., D.D.S. or Pharm.D. pursuing a Ph.D.) is eligible to apply. 
• Awardees will be expected to devote full time to research or activities directly related to their development into independent researchers, as opposed to coursework, patient care, or teaching responsibilities.

Awards MUST begin on July 1. The activation date may not be delayed.

Sponsor
It is particularly important for the new fellow to receive wise counsel and direction from a senior investigator interested in the conduct and progress of the research project during the research-training period.  Each fellow must have a sponsor.

Citizenship
At time of application, must have one of the following designations:

• U.S. citizen 
• Permanent resident  
• Pending permanent resident. Applicants must have applied for permanent residency and have filed form I-485 with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and have received authorization to legally remain in the United States (having filed an Application for Employment Form I-765) 
• E3 Visa -specialty occupation worker 
• F1 - Student Visa 
• H1-B Visa -- temporary worker in a specialty occupation 
• J-1 Visa - exchange visitor 
• O-1 Visa - temporary worker with extraordinary abilities in the sciences 
• TN Visa - NAFTA professional

Awardee must meet American Heart Association citizenship criteria throughout the duration of the award.

Maximum Total Award Amount
$46,000

Annual Award Amount 
$23,000 per year:
$22,000 stipend plus $1,000 for health insurance.  Indirect costs are not allowed.

Award Duration
One or two years.  May submit an application to compete for a third year of funding*, if eligible.

New applications are allowed in the final year only.   An individual may not have more than three years of AHA funded predoctoral fellowship support.

Peer Review Criteria

Criterion 1 - Evaluation of the Investigator

Assessment of the applicant should account for a third of the overall score.

1. Does the trainee have potential for a research career?
2. Are the trainee's career plans specified in the application?
3. Is this supported by the trainee's academic record and the assessment provided by the three letters of reference? 
4. Does the trainee have prior research experience and/or publications? 
5. Is there a clear rationale supporting the need for the proposed training?
6. What is the sponsor's assessment of the applicant?

Criterion 2 - Sponsor/Training Plan and Environment

Assessment of the sponsor/training plan and environment should account for a third of the overall score.

Sponsor/Training Plan

1. Is the mentor an independent investigator?  
2. Does the mentor have the experience to direct the proposed research training, as evidenced by their track record regarding productivity, funding and prior trainees?
3. Does the mentor have adequate current funding to support the fellow's project? 
4. Does the mentor provide a comprehensive training plan that will facilitate the applicant's progress towards his/her research career goals?

Environment

1. Does the scientific environment in which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success for the training experience?
2. Is there evidence of institutional commitment?

Criterion 3 - Evaluation of the Proposal

Together, assessment of these three criteria should account for a third of the overall proposal score.

1. Significance: Does this study address an important problem broadly related to cardiovascular disease or stroke?  What will be the effect of these studies on the concepts, methods and technologies that drive this field?
2. Approach: A new fellow may not have had adequate time to generate preliminary data. Applicants can present preliminary data generated by the sponsor.  The assessment of preliminary data, whether generated by the sponsor or the applicant, should be put into perspective so that bold new ideas and risk taking by beginning investigators are encouraged rather than stymied.
   Are the conceptual framework, design, methods and analyses adequately developed, well integrated, well reasoned, feasible (as determined by preliminary data or the expertise available in the mentor's and/or collaborator's laboratories) and appropriate to the aims of the project?  Does the applicant acknowledge potential problem areas and consider alternative tactics?
3. Innovation:  Is the project original?

Applicants should never contact reviewers regarding their applications.  Discussing scientific content of an application or attempting to influence review outcome will constitute a conflict of interest in the review.  Reviewers are directed to notify the AHA if an applicant contacts them.

Location of Work
AHA awards are limited to nonprofit institutions within the geographic boundaries of the Great Rivers Affiliate. Such institutions include: medical, osteopathic and dental schools; veterinary schools; schools of public health; pharmacy schools; nursing schools; universities and colleges; public and voluntary hospitals; and other nonprofit institutions that can demonstrate the ability to conduct the proposed research.  Applications will not be accepted for work with funding to be administered through any federal institution or work to be performed by a federal employee, with the exception of the Veterans Administration.

Restrictions

• Not intended for individuals of faculty/staff rank or individuals who already have a science-based Ph.D. degree 
• Maximum of three years of predoctoral fellowship support per individual. 
• Awardee may not hold another association award concurrently. 
• The sponsor can have no more than two association-funded fellows (pre-doctoral and postdoctoral) in his/her lab at one time. 
• An applicant may submit only one affiliate application per deadline. 
• The fellow cannot hold a comparable award as a source of supplementation. 
• The same or similar unfunded application submitted for the fourth time will be administratively withdrawn and returned to the applicant.**

Applying to National and an Affiliate
If eligible, an applicant may simultaneously submit applications for affiliate and national awards.  If both are funded, the applicant must choose one award.  A person cannot hold more than one association award concurrently unless there is a stated exception.  The proposed research plan may need to be adjusted based upon different length of award and dollars available.  The deadline dates may be different for each submission.

Interim Reporting and Progress Assessment
Interim progress reports are required annually for all continuing multiple year awards.  Second-year funding is contingent upon satisfactory progress of first year.  Progress reports must include research training and accomplishments, abstracts and publications.

Evaluation
Publications, citations by others, ability to attract ongoing research funding, faculty/staff advancement, contribution of association support to career advancement.

Success Rate (January 2009 deadline)
# Applications Reviewed: 172
# Applications Awarded: 45
Success Rate: 26 percent

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* Fellows who wish to compete for a third-year of fellowship support and meet the eligibility criteria must submit a new fellowship application according to the program guidelines. New applications are allowed in the final year only.  This is a new, competitive application, not an application for renewal.  To apply for this one year award, be certain you select the one-year electronic application in Grants@Heart.

**An applicant who is unsuccessful in a competition may resubmit the same or similar application three times (the original plus two resubmissions).