2027 Career Development Award

The American Heart Association's Career Development Award supports highly promising healthcare and academic professionals in the early years of their first professional appointment to explore innovative questions or pilot studies in basic, clinical or population research on cardiovascular and/or cerebrovascular disease. The award builds the preliminary data, research skills and training needed for a successful career as a research scientist. It provides $77,000 per year (including 10% institutional indirect costs) for three years, $231,000 in total, for salary and fringe benefits of the principal investigator, collaborators and mentoring-team members and for project costs such as technical staff, supplies, equipment, travel, volunteer subject costs, data management and publication. Each applicant works with a mentoring team of at least a primary and a secondary mentor, at least one from outside the applicant's department, division or institution and one committed to guiding future grant writing, and submits a career development plan. Additional collaboration funding is designated within this award through the California Walnut Commission and the VIVA Physician Research Award. Proposals are submitted through ProposalCentral by 3 p.m. Central Time on 1 December 2026; awards are notified in March 2027 and start on 1 April 2027.

Applicants must hold an MD, PhD, DO, DVM, DDS or equivalent post-baccalaureate doctoral degree at application. Postdoctoral fellows may apply but must hold a faculty appointment by award activation. At activation the awardee must hold a faculty or staff position up to and including assistant professor (or equivalent), with no more than six years since the first faculty or staff appointment after the doctorate. Investigators awarded NIH K99/R00 or R01 grants are not eligible, current or prior Career Development Award or Scientist Development Grant recipients are not eligible, and an NIH K award other than K99/R00 may be held concurrently without budgetary overlap. The awardee devotes at least 10% effort. Awards are limited to U.S.-based non-profit institutions. At proposal submission the applicant must be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident or pending permanent resident (filed Form I-485 with an I-797C receipt), or hold an E-3, G-4, H1-B, O-1 or TN visa, or DACA status, and must keep one of these designations throughout the award. Applicants must be American Heart Association Professional Members at submission and may submit one Career Development Award application per deadline.