Merck Research Fellowship Awards

AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CARDIOLOGY FOUNDATION

Supporting Tomorrow's Leaders in Cardiovascular Medicine ACCF/Merck Cardiology Research Fellowships Aiming High and Evaluating Success Awardee Selection Committee The 2010-2011 ACCF Research Fellowship Awards Committee Roster Presentation of Awards Leadership Development Exclusive Interviews with ACCF/Merck Leaders

PROGRAM HISTORY, CURRENT FOCUS & SELECTION COMMITTEE 

Supporting Tomorrow's Leaders in Cardiovascular Medicine
Cardiovascular fellows enrolled in today’s accredited training programs are the future of cardiovascular care.  Because these young physician-scientists will play a crucial role in advancing the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease, their careers must be nurtured now, as they make important decisions about the future.  With the ACCF/Merck Fellowship Awards, the American College of Cardiology Foundation and formerly the Merck Company Foundation together have helped to launch the careers of well over 150 young cardiovascular researchers.  These awards have provided an important springboard for innovative research in many areas of concern.  The awards have also played a supporting role in the development of new therapies and techniques for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Working as partners, the College and Merck are uniquely positioned to ensure that fellows receive the training and support that enables them to conduct research that will address the urgent health care needs of the future.

ACCF/Merck Cardiology Research Fellowships
For 30 years, the ACCF/Merck Fellowship program has provided a unique opportunity for carefully selected awardees to launch a career in cardiovascular research.  When surveyed in Fall 2010 about the significance of this award program, an impressive number of past awardees credited this fellowship with playing a significant role in their career trajectory.  The findings of this comprehensive survey of the program confirmed that the awards have assisted early-career researchers at a pivotal time in their careers, encouraging a generation of researchers to pursue careers in cardiovascular investigation.

The fellowship award program will continue to be supportive of researchers, whose projects have the greatest potential to yield valuable findings relevant to current concerns in cardiovascular medicine, including metabolic syndrome. 

Currently, the program supports the research of four (4) Merck Fellows for one year in the amount of $60,000. The award is disbursed on a quarterly basis by the American College of Cardiology Foundation.

Aiming High and Evaluating Success
As demonstrated by the 157 awardees who have since 1981 been designated American College of Cardiology Foundation Merck Fellows, there is good reason to expect future awardees to make significant contributions to the specialty of cardiovascular medicine.  In fact, we expect the next generation of ACCF/Merck Fellows to achieve even greater heights.  The ACCF/Merck Fellowship Awards have been described as “the single most important opportunity for cardiology fellows to succeed in academic cardiology” and as a “vital [link] in the chain from bench to bedside.”  It is entirely appropriate for the College and Merck to expect that future recipients of this award will one day express similar sentiments.

To confirm the success of the program, the College continues to maintain a database of awardees and contacts them approximately every three-five years to seek their input and opinions on the program as well as, updates on their progress as physicians and investigators.  The College will also continue to encourage the ACCF/Merck Fellows to be active members of the College, including nominating them for committee positions. 

Awardee Selection Committee
The ACCF research awards program is administered under the purview of the ACCF Research Fellowship Awards Committee.  The Committee, consisting of nine Fellows of the College, is appointed by the College President. The Committee meets once a year, to make award selections and recommendations as needed on future awards. 

The 2010-2011 ACCF Research Fellowship Awards Committee Roster is as follows:

Peter Libby, MD, FACC (CHAIR) 
Brigham and Women’s Hospital

John M. Canty, Jr., MD, FACC
University at Buffalo

James A. de Lemos, MD, FACC
UT Southwestern Medical School

Elyse Foster, MD, FACC
University of California San Francisco 

Keith A. Horvath, MD, FACC
National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute

Elizabeth S. Kaufman, MD, FACC 
Metro Health Medical Center/Case

Sanjiv Kaul, MBBS, FACC  
Oregon Health & Science University

Carlin S. Long, MD, FACC* 
Denver Health Medical Center

Arya Mani, MD, FACC* 
Yale University School of Medicine
 
Joseph C. Wu, MD, PhD, FACC
Stanford University School of Medicine
 
* Past ACCF/Merck Fellow

AWARDEE RECOGNITION & LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Presentation of Awards
Awardees are expected to attend the annual Convocation of the College, held during the Annual Scientific Session each year in March/April, to be recognized before the assembled membership as ACCF/Merck Fellows.  Stipends are paid quarterly to the awardees directly or to their institution, following instructions provided by the awardee. 

For more information about the Convocation, please go to: http://www.cardiosource.org/ACC/ACC-Membership/Convocation.aspx.

Leadership Development
In recognition that ACCF award recipients represent the outstanding young investigators of their generation, awardees are given special consideration for appointment to ACC committees, task forces and working groups.  These opportunities offer unparalleled participation in the College’s decision-making processes and provide the ACC with a pool of invaluable expertise and perspective.

Exclusive Interviews with ACCF/Merck Leaders