Early Career Awards

Early career investigators are PhDs and/or MDs who are still in training or have completed training within the last four years; or PhDs and/or MDs who are still within in the first four years after their first faculty appointment as of the award application date.

Early Career Investigator awards are designed to recognize endeavors by early career investigators in research activities and to encourage continued research careers. Early Career Investigator awards must also comply with the rules and guidelines developed by the Committee on Scientific Sessions Program if held in conjunction with the Scientific Sessions or Specialty Meetings.

Eligibility Criteria

• Early Career Investigator Award applicants and applicant sponsors must be members of the AHA sponsoring scientific council at the time of application. If you need to become an AHA Professional Member, you should do so no later than one week prior to the application submission deadline for your member account to be processed in time. Learn more about AHA Professional Membership.
• An individual may not compete for similar Early Career Investigator awards from other American Heart Association scientific councils that will be presented at the same meeting.
• Previous winners and finalists for these awards are not eligible to re-enter the same competition in subsequent years. However, applicants may apply for a different award program in which they haven't previously been a winner or finalist.
• Only one manuscript and abstract per candidate will be considered for awards. The manuscript may have co-authors, but the applicant must be the first and presenting author. The presenting author of an accepted abstract must be registered for the Scientific Meeting.
• The work covered by the submitted abstract must not have been presented at a national or international meeting before presentation at the AHA scientific event. If so, the abstract must be withdrawn.
• Abstracts associated with a published manuscript can be presented an AHA scientific event if the manuscript was published after the time the abstract was submitted to the event, however the abstract will not be published as a part of the journal publication.
• There are no citizenship requirements for these awards.
• Women and underrepresented racial and ethnic groups are encouraged to apply.

Evaluation Criteria

Panels of distinguished researchers, scientists, nurses, clinicians and academicians representing the breadth of cardiovascular disease and stroke will judge applications. Awards that do not involve abstracts may use different evaluation criteria. Please consult the specific award Web page for detailed evaluation criteria.

How to Apply

Please see the individual award information pages below for specific documents required when submitting an application file. Awards requiring an abstract must be submitted through the AHA's Scientific Sessions before the online submission site abstract deadline. Your abstract control number will be needed on the award application form.

A username and password set up through online registration at Professional Heart Daily will be necessary to access the AHA's online abstract submission site and the Council Awards & Fellowships Application System. AHA Professional Members who are creating an online profile for the first time should make sure to register using their AHA member identification numbers.