Max Harry Weil Early Career Award Competition for Resuscitation Science

Sponsored by the Council on Cardiopulmonary, Critical Care, Perioperative and Resuscitation (3CPR)

To qualify for this Resuscitation Science Symposium award, you must meet the following deadlines:

May 31, 2024 – Deadline to have an active AHA membership with this Council.
June 10, 2024, 11:59 p.m. CDT – Deadline to apply for this award in the Council Awards System.

For awards requiring abstract submission, the deadline to submit your science to Resuscitation Science Symposium 2024 is June 6, 2024, 6 p.m. (CDT).

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Max Harry Weil, MD, PhD The Max Harry Weil Award for Resuscitation Science was established in 2012. The award acknowledges the accomplishments of early career investigators and encourages them to continue their research in biomedical sciences relevant to the mission and scope of the 3CPR council.

This award honors the memory of Max Harry Weil, MD, PhD, considered the “father of critical care medicine” and a pioneer in 3CPR science.

Weil died on July 29, 2011, at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif, at the age of 84. He was an acclaimed physician who received numerous accolades in the cardiology and critical care field. He was the founding president of the Society of Critical Care Medicine; a Fellow of the American Heart Association, a master fellow of the College of Chest Physicians; a master of the American College of Physicians; and a fellow of the American College of Cardiology. He was the author or coauthor of more than 1,300 articles, chapters and books, and held more than two dozen patents.

Born in Switzerland and raised in Germany, Weil came to New York as a child and ultimately earned his doctorate in medicine at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine and a PhD in physiology at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. He came to California in the 1950s and opened the state’s first heart catheterization facility at City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte. Weil spent 23 years on faculty at USC and working at L.A.’s County Hospital and Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, opening one of the first intensive care units in the nation. He started the Institute of Critical Care Medicine in 1959. Later, he chaired the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Health Sciences/Chicago Medical School and headed its cardiology and critical care divisions. In 2004, he was awarded the AHA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Cardiac Resuscitation Science. Dr. Weil was recognized by the World Federation of Societies of Intensive and Critical Care Medicine in 2009. He personally trained more than 400 physician and bioengineering fellows from all over the world, and at the time of his death was still teaching CPR, designing research projects and supervising the education of research fellows in 3CPR science. His life and his work were dedicated to pioneering research and tough but caring mentorship to any and all early career investigators interested in 3CPR science. This award, issued in his name, will preserve and grow that vision for future generations.

Award Recipients

2023 Tomoyoshi Tamura, MD, PhD
2022 Yusuke Endo, DVM, PhD
2021 Takahiro Nakashima, MD, PhD
2020 Tasuku Matsuyama, MD, PhD
2019 Qiujun Yu, MD, PHD
2018 Rebecca R, Vanderpool, PhD
2017 Kristian Kragholm, MD, PhD
2016 Carolina Malta Hansen
2015 Roxane Paulin
2014 Kotaro Kida
2013 Zachary Goldberger
2012 Theresa Olasveengen

Eligibility Criteria

All applicants for the award must be members of the Council on Cardiopulmonary, Critical Care, Pulmonary & Resuscitation (3CPR) at the time of application and must maintain this membership through the date of recognition to be eligible for award funding. If you need to become an AHA Professional Member, you should do so one week prior to the application submission deadline for your member account to be processed in time for the application submission deadline. Learn more about becoming an AHA Professional Member.
Candidates must be working in any area of research relevant to resuscitation science.
Applicant must be active in research and within 10 years of completion of terminal degree or highest certificate (e.g., MSc, PhD), or within 10 years of completing medical fellowship or residency, as of the award application date. Graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, instructors, and research associates are welcome to apply.
An individual may not compete for similar early career investigator awards from the other American Heart Association Scientific Councils presented at Scientific Sessions or Resuscitation Science Symposium, including the Cournand and Comroe Early Career Investigator Prize in Cardiopulmonary, Critical Care, Perioperative and Resuscitation.
Only one manuscript per candidate will be considered.
The applicant must be the first and presenting author, although the manuscript may have co-authors.
Previous winners of the Max Harry Weil Award for Resuscitation Science and finalists of this award are not eligible to re-enter the competition in subsequent years. However, applicants may apply for a different award program in which they haven't previously been a winner or finalist.
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.
Applicants must adhere to the AHA Embargo Policy.
The work covered by the abstract must not have been presented at a national or international meeting or world congress before the date and time of presentation at Resuscitation Science Symposium.
The abstract must comply with the General Abstracts Submission Guidelines as outlined by the Committee on Resuscitation Science SymposiumProgram.
Abstracts eligible for this award must be based upon projects that adhere to the American Heart Association’s policies governing all research awards, regardless of whether the project was funded by the American Heart Association. These policies 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.
Finalists must be registered for and be able to present their manuscript at the Resuscitation Science Symposium (ReSS) and attend the 3CPR Council Annual Reception, where the award will be presented.

Evaluation Criteria

Scientific merit of the abstract.
Quality and originality of the candidate’s manuscript.
Letters of reference and support from the candidate’s supervisor/mentor and any other included reference letters.
Oral abstract presentation at Resuscitation Science Symposium (finalists only). The finalist must be the presenter of his/her submission and no alternates or proxy will be allowed.

How to Apply/Required Documents

Electronic submission through the Council Awards Application System is required. Hard copies of any part of the nomination cannot be accepted. Please follow instructions for ProposalCentral, the NEW Council Awards platform.

Apply Now for the Resuscitation Science Symposium Awards for Early Career Investigators and select the Max Harry Weil Early Career Award Competition for Resuscitation Science from the award drop down list.

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

AHA abstract in accordance with AHA rules and regulations for submitting abstracts to the Resuscitation Science Symposium. Please note that this abstract must first be submitted through the AHA's Resuscitation Science Symposium website before the abstract submission deadline. Visit Resuscitation Science Symposium to submit your abstract before submission of this award application. Your abstract control number will be needed on the award application form.
An unpublished manuscript or manuscript in preparation based on independent research to be presented in the submitted abstract. (35-page limitation, including references, tables, and figures.) The applicant must be the first and presenting author, although the manuscript may have co-authors. 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.
Curriculum vitae and bibliography.
A letter of support detailing how much of the design and research work was done by the candidate and by any co-investigators. The candidate's immediate supervisor, division head, department chairman, or institute director must write this statement. In the case of multi-authored manuscripts, the supervisor should also indicate that among all the co-authors the applicant is the most appropriate candidate for the award and offer rationale for this opinion. Supportive statements of the candidate and his or her relevant qualifications as a researcher are also encouraged.

Though not required, up to two additional letters of support or reference from individuals familiar with the applicant, his or her background, or his or her research may be submitted. The inclusion of additional support letters does not guarantee higher consideration of an application but can be beneficial.

Visit the Council Awards Application System to complete an application.

A username and password previously set up through online registration at Professional Heart Daily (PHD) will be necessary to access the 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.

For more detailed information on ProposalCentral, also included are additional materials on specific ProposalCentral functionality.

Prize

Finalists for the award competition will be announced in August and will present their research results at the Resuscitation Science Symposium in November. Each finalist must present their abstract in-person at the Resuscitation Science Symposium. Virtual presentations or an alternate (proxy) presenter will not be permitted and will result in disqualification from the award.

The winner will receive $1,500, the first runner up will receive $1,000.
Each finalist will receive one complimentary ticket to and recognition at the 3CPR Council reception council luncheon where they will be presented with an engraved award plaque.