GPM Early Career Engagement Award

The AHA Council on Genomic and Precision Medicine (GPM) is offering an GPM Early Career Engagement Award to support 5 trainees or students from underrepresented populations who are considering careers in cardiovascular GPM. The award includes the following benefits:

• 1 year complimentary AHA membership at the student/trainee tier
• Complimentary registration for the AHA GPM sponsored online course “From Concepts to Practice: A Guide to Cardiovascular Genomics”
• Opportunities to participate in professional development activities with the AHA GPM Council and Early Career Committee

The aim of this award is to motivate and facilitate promising early-career trainees and students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups to pursue careers in cardiovascular GPM and become involved in the GPM council.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for this award, applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Be a new AHA member at the time of application (i.e., have not previously held an AHA membership).
• Early-career trainee or student, such as an undergraduate, health professional or PhD student, post-doc, resident, or fellow.
• Eligible applicants must fulfill any one or more criteria as listed below:
  • Individuals who have faced challenges or obstacles to their career due to their membership in one or more racial and ethnic groups.
  • Individuals who have faced challenges or obstacles to their career due to their
    identification as LGBTQ+
  • Individuals with disabilities, who are defined as those with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
  • Individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, defined as those who meet two or more of the following criteria:
    • Were or currently are homeless.
    • Were or currently are in the foster care system.
    • Were eligible for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program for two or more years.
    • Have/had no parents or legal guardians who completed a bachelor’s degree (PDF).
    • Were or currently are eligible for Federal Pell grants.

Evaluation Criteria

Applicants will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Interest in cardiovascular GPM
• How they intend to utilize this award to advance their career

How to Apply/Required Documents

Hard copies of any part of the application will not be accepted.

The application should include the following required documents:

1. Resume or CV
2. Personal essay (maximum 500 words total) addressing the following 2 topics:
   1. Why they are interested in cardiovascular GPM.
   2. How they plan to utilize this award to advance their career.