WASHINGTON – Today, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI) announced the second application cycle for the SCAI Early Career Research Grants, demonstrating continued commitment to supporting the academic interests of their early career members.

As cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality in the United States continues to rise, federal funding dedicated to CVD research has remained stagnant, underscoring the importance of collaboration between industry leaders and medical organizations to increase research funding opportunities. Additionally, recent data has shown the strong demand and interest in research opportunities among emerging interventional cardiologists, with it being reported as among the most valuable aspects of their training.  

The Early Career Research Grants will be offered by SCAI as a member service to foster and stimulate new research ideas in interventional cardiology. The program targets junior-level investigators (i.e., within ten years of completing interventional cardiology fellowship) by funding proposals that demonstrate a high likelihood of resulting in new and innovative approaches in interventional research. 

The new application cycle will close on March 6, 2023, and grant recipients will be announced at the SCAI 2023 Scientific Sessions this May. Recipients will present their resulting research in a dedicated session at SCAI 2024 Scientific Sessions and be invited to publish their resulting manuscript in the Journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (JSCAI) with publication fees waived.

SCAI/Abbott Early Career Research Grant 

Research relevant to one or more of the following areas related to personalizing or tailoring the vascular patient care journey:  

• Intravascular imaging with OCT as a tool to guide & optimize endovascular or percutaneous coronary intervention in specific patient/lesion subsets
• Epicardial or microvascular coronary physiology assessments, for example, in management of patients with INOCA or diffuse coronary disease
• Strategies designed to personalize the disease journey for patients suffering with Chronic Limb-Threatening Ischemia (CLTI) 

SCAI/Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. Early Career Research Grant 

Research relevant to one or more of the following areas related to coronary or peripheral calcium modification: 

• Investigation of diagnostic imaging or screening protocols to identify vessel calcification prior to angiogram 
• OCT/IVUS analysis quantifying prevalence of concentric, eccentric, and nodular calcium morphologies 

Or one or more of the following areas related to Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI) 

• Disparities in treatment (e.g., by gender, race, ethnicity, age) 
• Recent treatment and outcome trends per national or international vascular registry data, administrative data, clinical trial data or institutional databases 

Or focusing on one of the following areas: 

• Clinical and/or economic assessment of the adoption of radial and/or pedal peripheral vascular interventions—preferably in the OBL setting 
• Potential shift in peripheral artery disease (PAD) practice patterns in COVID-19 era (e.g., changing PAD demographics, specialties treating PAD, prevalence, and incidence, shifts in medical management, and time to intervention) 
• Economic cost of a multidisciplinary approach involving endovascular procedures and wound care vs. primary amputation in patients with critical limb ischemia 
• Quality-of-life after endovascular intervention in claudicants