Early Career Research Grants Eligibility and Application Process

The following SCAI Early Career Research Grants (ECRGs) will be awarded in 2025: 

SCAI/Abbott

Research on one of the following topics: 

• Factors impacting outcomes in patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) treated with drug-eluting resorbable scaffolds (e.g., patient-level variables, focal or complete scaffolding, intravascular imaging, pre- and post-procedure variables, etc.) 
• Strategies and treatment outcomes for intravascular imaging and vessel preparation, including orbital atherectomy, in the treatment of infrapopliteal lesions in patients with CLTI with drug-eluting resorbable scaffolds 
• Factors contributing to the disparities in below-the-knee CLTI treatment choice and care, including drug-eluting resorbable scaffolds 

SCAI/Edwards Lifesciences

Research on one of the following topics related to Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR):

• Disparities in treatment (e.g., by gender, race, ethnicity, age, geography, etc.) and potential solutions
• Factors contributing to the underdiagnosis of aortic stenosis and potential solutions to address them
• Recent treatment and outcome trends per national or international registry data, administrative data, clinical trial data, or institutional databases and how to leverage these to inform best clinical practices

SCAI/Medtronic

Research on one of the following topics: 

• ST- and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI and NSTEMI): treatment of non-culprit lesions and associated outcomes
• Multi-vessel disease: imaging techniques and associated outcomes
• Coronary bifurcation lesions:
  • Imaging techniques and associated outcomes (e.g., IVUS, OCT, FFR), or
  • Stenting techniques and associated outcomes (e.g., provisional vs. two-stent, DK crush)
• In-stent restenosis (ISR): predictors, prevalence, treatment, and associated outcomes
• Real-world prevalence and outcomes of renal denervation
• EMR-based recruitment models for patient identification for guideline-recommended interventions or clinical trials

SCAI/Shockwave Medical

Research on one of the following topics: 

• National trends, local/regional variation, and disparities in utilization of calcium modifying devices for infrapopliteal peripheral artery disease 
• Contemporary trends and outcomes with below-the-ankle (BTA) calcium modification interventions, including intravascular lithotripsy 
• The role of calcium modification, including intravascular lithotripsy, in chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) to optimize revascularization and wound healing outcomes 

Please review the list of previously funded ECRG research to avoid submitting overlapping proposals.

• Open to US-based and international SCAI members within ten years of completing an interventional cardiology fellowship.  If you plan to apply for SCAI membership, please allow time for your new or lapsed membership application to be reviewed and approved. 
• Members can only receive one SCAI ECRG during their career; previous ECRG recipients will not be considered.
• Applicants may only submit one application per grant. 

• Applications are open from November 26, 2024 – January 21, 2025.
• Recipients will be selected and notified by the end of March 2025, and officially announced at SCAI 2025 Scientific Sessions in May 2025.
• The recipient's institution will be required to sign a Memorandum of Agreement before the official announcement of the grant's recipient.
• Once the Memorandum of Agreement is in place, recipients may begin their research (no later than May 2025) to enable the completion of grant deliverables on schedule: 
  • Recipients will be required to present their research findings at a dedicated session at SCAI 2026 Scientific Sessions (April 23-25, 2026) 
  • Recipients should have a manuscript ready for journal submission in February 2026 so that simultaneous publication can occur.
• It is strongly preferred, though not required, that recipients submit the resulting manuscript(s) for publication in JSCAI. If the resulting manuscripts are accepted by JSCAI, JSCAI open access article publishing costs will be waived. See below for additional information in Use of Grant Funds.
• Recipients may not include industry employees as co-investigators on their grant research or as co-authors on their resulting manuscript(s) 
• All deliverables funded through this research grant mechanism will be required to state, "This research was sponsored by the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) and supported by an educational grant from [industry supporter]. The views presented here represent those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official views of SCAI or [industry supporter]." 
• We expect recipients to provide an NIH-style Biosketch if selected for the award. 

• Grant funds may not be used for any form of salary support for the award recipient or co-investigators on their proposed research.
• Grant funds may not be used to pay journal fees or charges if the recipient elects to submit their manuscript to a journal other than JSCAI. 
• Indirect fees may not exceed 20% of the total grant budget. 
• Funds will be distributed to the recipient only for expenditures essential to support research project completion (statistics, data use fees, data management, salaries of technical personnel essential to the conduct of the project, supplies, equipment, volunteer subject costs, etc.) 
• Grant funds may be used to cover travel and accommodation at SCAI 2026 Scientific Sessions; however, additional disclosure requirements may apply (to be outlined in the SCAI Memorandum of Agreement). SCAI is unable to provide additional funds for travel to SCAI 2026 Scientific Sessions.
• The cost of accessing some datasets/data sources may exceed the total amount of this grant. The recipient is responsible for any additional costs and expenses required to complete their research and fulfill the Grant Requirements (presentation of research results at SCAI 2026 Scientific Sessions and publication in a peer-reviewed journal).

• The SCAI Scientific Oversight Committee will oversee application review and selection.
• Applications will be scored based on i) significance, ii) innovation, iii) approach, feasibility of completion within the grant timeline, and credibility. The ECRG Reviewer Form has further details on application scoring. 
• Information requested in the ECRG Application Face Page will only be used for administrative purposes. 
• SCAI's Scientific Oversight Committee is committed to reducing unconscious bias in the grant selection process and increasing the diversity of grant applicants and recipients. Reviewers will only receive the research proposal, budget, and project timeline documents from applications; they will be blinded to applicants', co-investigators', and research personnel's names, gender, race/country of origin, and institutions. Please refrain from including personal or institutional identifiers in these documents. 
• Applicants should provide information to support the feasibility of completing their proposed research within the allotted time but without directly naming any investigators, support staff/personnel, or institutions involved in the research in their research proposal, budget, and project timeline documents. E.g., 
  • This research will use data from the [name of data set] database/dataset for the proposed analysis. Our institution already has access to the x database/dataset. An application authorizing approval of the dataset for this purpose is estimated to take x time. 
  • A research proposal application has been submitted to the NCDR and was approved on x date. 
  • Our research team has conducted preliminary studies in a similar cohort and was able to enroll x patients over y period of time. 
  • This analysis will use data from the [name of registry] registry, consisting of x number of patients with y condition. Our institution already has access to this data. 
  • The study co-investigator has extensive experience with [name of data set/technology]. Their expertise has been leveraged in the development of this statistical plan and will provide invaluable assistance for interpreting the data. 
• Some registries and datasets may have restrictions on how their data can be analyzed (e.g., device-device comparisons may be prohibited) or policies requiring prior review and approval of research proposals using their data. Applicants should ensure that they have complied with the policies governing any dataset to be used in their ECRG research, as it may impact the feasibility assessment of their application. 
• Applicants should review the list of previously funded ECRG research to avoid submitting overlapping proposals.
• Applications that do not clearly align with the grant topics listed will not be considered.
• Applications that propose to fund research infrastructure (e.g., a registry) will not be considered.

Grant applications should be emailed to [email protected] by January 21, 2025, and include: 

1. ECRG Application Face Page
2. Research Proposal 
   • The proposal must demonstrate clear relevance to one or more focus areas of the chosen grant opportunity.
   • The proposal should be submitted as a Microsoft Word document or PDF (1" margins, no less than 11-point font) and should not exceed five pages, single-spaced.
   • Proposals should not identify or refer to the applicant or their co-investigators/research personnel by name, gender, race/country of origin, or institution. 
   • The proposal should include: 
     • Title 
     • Background and rationale, including the significance of your proposed research and how your proposal is unique/innovative. 
     • Specific aims/objectives, including the primary hypothesis, if applicable. 
     • Research Strategy, including (if applicable): 
       • Data sources and study population. Note if the use of the data source has been approved/is immediately accessible or if an application is still required, and any relevant protections to human subjects. 
       • Preliminary studies/pilot data demonstrating feasibility.
       • Sample size/power calculation 
       • Analytic/experimental methods with statistical analysis plan 
       • Potential challenges and how they will be addressed.
     • References 
3. One-page budget (including budget justification), itemized by effort.
   • Personnel titles or roles should be provided, but names and institutions should not be included.
   • Fringe and indirect rates/costs, if charged, should be included.
4. Project timeline demonstrating the feasibility of completing the project in time to present research findings and simultaneously publish the manuscript at SCAI 2026 Scientific Sessions (April 23-25, 2026).