Topic-focused Funded Research

The AHA and Allen Frontiers Group, along with additional contributors including the Oskar Fischer Project and Henrietta B. and Frederick H. Bugher Foundation, have committed more than $43 million to disrupt the incremental trajectory of brain health science and open new frontiers of discovery.

In March 2020, the Heart Association put out an unprecedented rapid response call for cardiovascular /cerebrovascular research proposals to address the growing crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of this issue's urgency, the focus was on innovative, highly impactful short-term proposals (9-12 months) that could show immediate progress.

The Heart Association committed up to $10 million to fund research on understanding the mechanisms underlying cardiac, vascular and cerebrovascular effects of COVID-19 and Long COVID, and mechanisms that contribute to differential susceptibility to Long COVID.

Funded by the FDA and NIH to provide the FDA with scientific evidence regarding the cardiovascular toxicity and health effects of tobacco products, with a larger focus on new and emerging products.

The Association committed $20 million to fund bold, ground-breaking research projects on the health impacts of nicotine and nicotine delivery products entering the market without essential safety information -- and to address the developing epidemic of nicotine addiction -- in children and youth.