Harriet Dustan Award

Sponsored by the Council on Hypertension


Applications will open on April 1, 2026

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

  • June 30, 2026, 6 p.m. (CT) – Deadline to have an active Professional Membership.
  • July 3, 2026, 6 p.m. (CT) – Deadline to apply for this award in the Council Awards System.

Dr. Harriet DustanThe Harriet Dustan Award recognizes female investigators who have made outstanding contributions in the field of hypertension. The winner will present a lecture during the Hypertension Scientific Sessions.

The award was established to honor the memory of Dr. Harriet Dustan, an outstanding clinician and investigator who was a tireless worker on behalf of the Council on Hypertension and the American Heart Association for more than 50 years. During her career, she served as president of the American Heart Association, chaired its Ethics and Research Committees, and was the founding editor-in-chief of Hypertension. She was also the first woman on the Board of Governors of the American Board of Internal Medicine.

After beginning her career in 1948 in the Research Division of the Cleveland Clinic with Dr. Irvine H. Page and Dr. Arthur C. Corcoran, Dr. Dustan was among the first to suggest that reducing dietary sodium could lower hypertension and cardiac risks. She became a major force in the field of hypertension, helping to unlock its mechanisms and develop or investigate all the early anti-hypertensive agents, thus changing hypertension from a death sentence to a treatable disease. Dr. Dustan concluded her academic career at the University of Alabama School of Medicine as the director of the Cardiovascular Research and Training Center.

Award Recipients

  • 2025 Heddwen L. Brooks, PhD
  • 2024 Jennifer C. Sullivan, PhD, FAHA
  • 2023 Anne Monique Nuyt, MD, FAHA
  • 2022 Aletta E. Schutte, PhD
             Maria Luisa Soledad Sequeira Lopez, MD, FAHA
  • 2021 Ulrike Muscha Steckelings, MD, PhD, FAHA
  • 2020 Stephanie W. Watts, PhD, FAHA
  • 2019 Bina Joe, PhD, FAHA, FAPS
  • 2018 Barbara T. Alexander, PhD, FAHA
  • 2017 Kate Denton, PhD, FAHA
  • 2016 Jennifer Pollock PhD, FAHA
  • 2015 Rhian Touyz, MD, PhD, FAHA
  • 2014 Lilach O. Lerman, MD, PhD
  • 2013 Jane Reckelhoff, BS, PhD
  • 2012 Lisa Cassis, PhD
  • 2011 Chris Baylis, PhD
  • 2010 Kathryn Sandberg, PhD
  • 2009 Nancy J. Brown, MD
  • 2008 Suzanne Oparil, MD

Applicant/Nominee Eligibility

  • Must be a member of the Council on Hypertension at the time of application. Join or renew today!
  • A candidate may be nominated an unlimited number of times by different individuals in the same year.
  • If a nominee is not selected, nominators may update and resubmit the application in a future award cycle by contacting [email protected].
  • Previous winners are not eligible for nomination.
  • Past recipients of the Council on Hypertension Excellence Award in Hypertension Research (and all previous names of the award) are not eligible.
  • Each recipient of council-sponsored awards, regardless of award category, is eligible to receive only one council-sponsored award each year per scientific meeting.
  • Notwithstanding the above, the Association’s Officers have the discretion to determine eligibility for the award in extraordinary circumstances when there is an issue relating to policy or positions or other potentially controversial issues.

Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be evaluated by a panel of accomplished researchers, scientists, clinicians, and academicians, representing the breadth of basic cardiovascular sciences.

Contacting the judging panel, including but not limited to phone calls, emails, social media messages, or any other form of communication, before submitting your application or during the review process will result in disqualification.

Applications will be judged on the following:

  • Adherence to eligibility criteria
  • Completeness and quality of application materials
  • The nominee’s background, accomplishments, and overall contributions to the field of hypertension

Timeline

  • June 30, 2026 – Deadline to have an active Professional Membership.
  • July 3, 2026, 6 p.m. (CT) – Deadline to apply for this award in the Council Awards System.
  • August 2026 – Nominators will be notified of their application status.

Required Documents

The following items must be submitted through the Council Awards Application System for consideration for this award:

  • A full Curriculum vitae including all publications (abstracts not necessary).
  • One signed letter of nomination from the sponsor and one additional supporting letter. The letters should clearly articulate the major contributions of the nominee to the field of hypertension.

Note: Members of the Council on Hypertension Awards Committee are not eligible to apply, be nominated, or write letters of support for the award

How to Apply/Submit a Nomination

Visit the Council Awards Application System to complete an application.

A Professional Heart Daily (PHD) username and password are required to access the system. If you are creating a PHD profile for the first time, please register using your Professional Membership ID number.

Membership Requirement

Professional Membership with the American Heart Association and affiliation with the Council on Hypertension are required for all applicants. Please allow 3–5 days for processing—do not wait until the deadline to Join or Renew.

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Click the link for the Council Awards Application System.
  2. Sign in with your Professional Heart Daily username and password.
  3. Follow these instructions to set up your profile in ProposalCentral. Setting up your ProposalCentral profile will only need to be done the first time you log in to apply for an American Heart Association Council Awards.

    Note: The grant maker named “American Heart Association” in ProposalCentral refers to Research Awards and is a separate funder. Council Awards are listed under American Heart Association Council Awards.
  4. Start Your Application:
    • Select Create New Proposal.
    • Filter by Grant Maker: Choose American Heart Association Council Awards.
    • From the Programs list, select: Hypertension Scientific Sessions Mid-Career Achievement Awards and Lectures.
    • Click the Apply Now button.
    • Within the application, select the award: HTN Harriet Dustan Award.

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

Prize

The winner will present a lecture during the Hypertension Scientific Sessions and will receive:

  • Complimentary registration to Hypertension Scientific Sessions
  • Two (2) tickets to the Hypertension Scientific Sessions Awards Banquet
  • An engraved plaque
  • $1,000 honorarium
  • $1,000 travel stipend

Questions

Two women catch up during a luncheon at Hypertension 2023.

Hypertension Scientific Sessions

October 7–11, 2026
Hyatt Regency Crystal City | Arlington, Virginia

black male doctor

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