SCAI’s Early Career Research Grant Recipients Are Announced

January 4, 2023—The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI) announced four recipients of the Early Career Research Grants, a new initiative offered by SCAI to support the next generation of interventional cardiologists in advancing their research careers. The grants will provide increased opportunity for clinical research within interventional cardiology and address disparities in care.

According to SCAI, the grants provide a platform for junior-level investigators who are within 10 years of completing their interventional cardiology fellowships to study high-priority, clinically important topics and to have their findings disseminated through a variety of professional channels. The grants are funded by support from Abbott, Cardiovascular Systems, Inc., Medtronic, and Shockwave Medical.

The recipients of the inaugural grants are as follows:

• SCAI-Abbott Early Career Research Grant: Chetan Huded, MD, of Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Missouri. Dr. Huded's project is “Site variability in use of intracoronary imaging guidance to optimize percutaneous coronary intervention.”
• SCAI-Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. Early Career Research Grant: Alexander Fanaroff, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Fanaroff’s project is “Racial and socioeconomic disparities in the diagnosis and management of peripheral artery disease and critical limb ischemia.”
• SCAI-Medtronic Early Career Research Grant: Andrew M. Goldsweig, MD, of Baystate Health/UMass Chan Medical School—Baystate in Springfield, Massachusetts. Dr. Goldsweig’s project is “Myocardial Infarction in Type 1 versus Type 2 Diabetes.”
• SCAI-Shockwave Medical Early Career Research Grant: Neel Butala, MD, of the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine in Aurora, Colorado. Dr. Butala’s project is “Use of Calcium Modification for Coronary Lesions: National Trends, Hospital Variation, and Disparities.”

SCAI President Sunil V. Rao, MD, commented in the press release, “SCAI is very excited about the opportunity to cultivate the next generation of interventional cardiology researchers. We are proud to offer these grants that will address gaps in research funding and tackle various health care disparities impacting patients with cardiovascular disease. We received many outstanding applications from a diverse set of applicants and hope that these research projects will provide a dynamic opportunity for our early career members to explore critical clinical areas affecting underrepresented patient populations.”

Grant recipients will present the results of their research at a dedicated session during the SCAI 2023 scientific sessions on May 18-23 in Phoenix, Arizona. The recipients will be invited to publish resulting manuscripts in the Journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions. A listing of the members of the grant review committee and more information are available online here.