Using Get With the Guidelines® Clinical Registry Data to Address Gaps in Care of Patients with Cardiovascular Disease or Stroke

• The goal of this RFP is for early career researchers to learn to use the American Heart Association Get With the Guidelines (GWTG) clinical registry data to address current gaps in the implementation of care.
  
  
• The grant application includes a Manuscript Proposal Form that will require the applicant to learn about the data, the data dictionaries, and the feasibility of addressing the specific gap in implementation. Applications that are not feasible will not be reviewed. 
  
  
• Two mandatory virtual training sessions will be held to answer questions/inquiries about the data, data dictionaries, learning to checking for feasibility, and learning how to analyze data in the American Heart Association Precision Medicine Platform. 
  
  
• Additional informational webinars will be held to assist with frequently asked questions.

• The deadline for the grant application is Friday, December 4, 2026, at 12:00 pm CT

• Applicants must be proficient in R or Python or include a researcher with this experience in the application. 
  
  
• This is a one-year grant with a start date of January 1, 2027. The funding amount per award is $50,000.
  
  
• Up to 15 grants will be awarded.
  
  
• Please reach out to  [email protected] with questions.
  
  
• Before beginning an application, review the eligibility and requirements that apply to all American Heart Association research awards on the Application Resources page.
  
  
• All proposals must be submitted electronically via ProposalCentral. You can begin to create your documents now; please refer to the Application Instructions (PDF). All submissions require a signature from a designated institutional representative.
  
  
• Applicants must be Professional Members at the time of application. This must be done online. Join or begin the membership process well before the deadline.

The American Heart Association’s Get With the Guidelines (GWTG) Clinical Registry is a hospital-based quality improvement program that includes modules in Atrial Fibrillation (AFib), Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), Stroke, and Heart Failure (HF). The clinical and lab data is abstracted from EHRs in hospitals around the United States. 

PURPOSE:
The purpose of this request for proposals is to ask key questions in the implementation of clinical care of patients with cardiovascular disease and stroke. Applicants will leverage one of the GWTG datasets (AFib, CAD, Stroke, HF) in the Precision Medicine Platform. Search the GWTG publications for help in identifying the types of questions that can be asked with this data. 

Examples of research questions include but are not limited to:
i)    Determine if differences in the quality of inpatient care (in either HF, CAD, AFib or Stroke) exist based on sex or race or insurance status
ii)   Determine if sex differences exist in a specific guideline-directed medical therapy
iii)  Identify trends in a specific practice or specific prescription patterns 
iv)  Determine if differences exist among care at rural vs urban hospitals

The Heart Association collects millions of patient records (>14 million) in its Quality Programs, creating vast databases for advancing scientific study. The GWTG Stroke, AFib, CAD, and HF datasets contain approximately 10.5M, 260k, 925k, and 2.9M records, respectively. Using the data that is collected through national GWTG programs, researchers can test hypotheses and apply for research grants.

The Association’s Quality Programs Research has been a highly valuable source for quality outcomes-based research, with more than 800 peer-reviewed studies published using this data.

This funding will support researchers interested in using the GWTG Clinical Registry data to address current gaps in the implementation and care of patients with cardiovascular disease and stroke. To apply for the grant, individuals must attend the two virtual training sessions (Sept. 30, Oct. 13). The sessions will contain critical information for using the GWTG data, understanding the variables, assessing feasibility of your research question and writing a successful manuscript proposal.

The applicant must be embedded in an appropriate investigative group with the mentorship, support, and relevant scientific guidance of a research mentor.

• The applicant and mentor should provide a thoughtfully planned manuscript proposal within the grant application aimed at clearly answering an investigative question using the GWTG dataset of choice (only choose ONE; AFib, CAD, HF, Stroke) in the Precision Medicine Platform (required). The training sessions will provide a review of the GWTG data, grantsmanship/manuscript tips, and how to use the Precision Medicine Platform.

Every applicant must be an American Heart Association professional member.

• Join or renew when preparing an application in Proposal Central, online or by phone at 301-223-2307 or 800-787-8984.  
• Membership/Partnership processing takes 3 to 5 days; do not wait until the application deadline to renew or join.  

Projects may include collaborators from across sectors and countries; however, the project proposal must be submitted by a project lead representing an academic or non-profit organization based in the United States.  
 
Projects may include co-investigators from other collaborating organizations. We strongly recommend that organizations identify only one project lead per project. 
 
Preference will be given to applicant organizations that are institutes of higher education, public entities, or nonprofits that are tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and are not private foundations or Type III supporting organizations. Other types of nonprofit and for-profit organizations are also eligible to apply. The American Heart Association may require additional documentation. 
 
Organizations that are currently funded through other American Heart Association funding mechanisms can apply. 
 
Organizations can submit multiple proposals. 

All grantees are required to use the Precision Medicine Platform.

• 1-year award from date of funding. Up to $50,000 per award (including 10% indirect costs).
  
  
• The Association anticipates funding up to 15 awards and reserves the right to determine the final number of awardees.
  
  
• An additional Amazon Web Services (AWS) service credit (up to $10,000) for use of the American Heart Association Precision Medicine Platform may be provided for computational time, use of AWS tools and infrastructure, and storage. Credit amount will be determined based on estimated need over duration of the grant.

Manuscript proposals must be submitted by Friday, December 4, 2026 at 12 pm CT.  Please note that there is additional information that you will need to provide in your application in ProposalCentral.  The checklist below is to highlight the specific topic related requirements associated with this funding opportunity.

CHECKLIST

A. A manuscript proposal that is novel (check the GWTG publications to be sure) and includes a feasibility check. Any manuscript proposal that duplicates previous publications AND/OR is not feasible will not be reviewed.  Use 12-point font, single space, .5-inch margins on all sides): GWTG Proposal Research Plan Template_Fall2026.docx

B. Works Cited (pages for Works Cited are not included in 6-page limitation)

C. Biosketches of Principal Investigator(s), Co-Investigator(s) Upload your NIH biosketch OMB No. 3145-0279 (expiration date 10/31/2026) and supplement OMB No. 0925-0001 (expiration date 12/31/2027) or No. 0925-0002 (expiration date 11/30/2027). We acknowledge that the NIH recently implemented several changes. We strongly encourage applicants to refer to the NIH Biosketch FAQs for formatting requirements and guidance at https://grants.nih.gov/faqs#/biosketches.htm It is not necessary to reformat to American Heart Association page specifications.

D. Letter of Support from a mentor or supervisor describing the environment, training, and mentorship they will provide you with during this award. 

E. Budget information should include:

• Salary and fringe benefits of the project lead, collaborating investigators, and other participating research staff or faculty.
  
  • It is strongly suggested that the principal investigator have at least 10% effort committed to this project.
  • The mentor does not receive salary support.
• Project-related expenses such as travel and publication costs in accordance with institutional and American Heart Association policies. 
• Please note that the American Heart Association does not fund the costs of program implementation or operations beyond what is established in an approved budget.
• Maximum of 10% institutional indirect costs may be claimed on the award.
• The awardee will be responsible for overseeing the total budget for the grant. If awarded, the project lead and the institution assume an obligation to expend grant funds for the research purposes set forth in the application and in accordance with all regulations and policies governing the grant programs of the American Heart Association.

For all other required items not listed, please refer to sections displayed in your Proposal Central application (e.g.: funding overlap, Assurances, Research Classifications, etc.).

Proposals will be evaluated 1/3 on the investigators, 1/3 on the proposed project and 1/3 on the research environment and mentorship. 

1. Proposed Project

• Are the conceptual framework, design, methods, and analyses adequately developed and feasible (as determined by preliminary data), and appropriate to the aims of the proposal? 
• How does the proposed work significantly add to the work in the field?
• If the aims of the application are achieved, how will scientific knowledge or clinical practice be advanced? 
• What will be the effect of these studies on the concepts, methods and technologies that drive this field?

2. Investigator(s)

• The peer review committee will assess the merit of each investigator based on the biosketch(es) provided and information in the letter of support.

3. Letter of Support from Mentor

• The peer review committee will assess the strength of the research environment, relevant training that will take place during the award and the experience and expertise of the mentor.

To access and analyze GWTG data, the Heart Association offers a cloud-based research data analysis platform, The Precision Medicine Platform, with secure, private workspaces equipped with tools for data analysis, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. The Precision Medicine Platform is the only research interface with access to The American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines registry data.

It is required that any data analysis for your project be conducted via the American Heart Association’s Precision Medicine Platform, powered by Amazon Web Services.  Our intent is to help applicants gain confidence leveraging cloud computing for applications and projects.

The Precision Medicine Platform provides you with a secure cloud computing workspace for you to use for the application and during the term of the award that allows researchers to code in various languages, including R and Python, and to use statistical software including but not limited to SAS and R studio. The most up-to-date machine learning and artificial intelligence software available from Amazon Web Services is also included. Researchers are also able to install their own tools.

The American Heart Association asks that the grantees also accelerate collaboration through the sharing of data and code as well as the coordination for interoperability of data to facilitate findability and sustainability. The American Heart Association fully supports the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) guiding principles of data stewardship.  The Precision Medicine Platform helps to support this principle by also serving as a data marketplace and enables you to share your data and make it available to other researchers. 

The Platform is HIPAA and FedRAMP compliant. Learn more about the Platform’s Security Information.

To learn more about the Precision Medicine Platform:

• Overview
• Full list of available analytical tools

• Any inventions, intellectual property, and patents resulting from this funding are governed by the American Heart Association’s Patent, Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Policy.
  
  
• The applicant/awardee and institution are responsible for compliance with all Heart Association research award policies and guidelines for the duration of any awards they may receive.
  
  
• Visit the Policies Governing All Research Awards page for more details.

Note: Existing awards are subject to the policy in place when the award agreement was signed. If a new award agreement is required (e.g., change of PI, change of institution) award is subject to policies in place at the time the agreement is signed.