ISHLT GRANTS AND AWARDS PROGRAMThis Award is issued annually in the amount of $75,000. The funding period is for one year. The deadline for submitting the 2010 Branislav Radovancevic Memorial Fellowship Grant Application is February 1, 2010.
To download the application, please click HERE.
The purpose of this award is to encourage scholarly clinical work in mechanical circulatory support, particularly in emerging countries, to facilitate scientific exchange regarding MCS, and to provide advanced scholarly clinical training in mechanical circulatory support and total artificial heart therapy. Dr. Radovancevic, a long-time member of ISHLT, was devoted to the encouragement of scientific collaboration with Eastern European physicians and scientists. This award is intended to encourage others to continue his efforts.
Funding for this award is provided by Thoratec in memory of ISHLT member Branislav (Brano) Radovancevic.
- The applicant or the applicant's chief of staff / fellowship director must be a member of the ISHLT in good standing at the time of application, and the grant recipient must become a member of ISHLT prior to funding and remain so throughout the period of funding.
- The applicant must have completed a residency or the equivalent in general surgery and be eligible for residency/fellowship or the equivalent in cardiothoracic surgery.
- The applicant must have met all of requirements for licensure in the state and/or country in which the Fellowship will take place. It is the institution’s responsibility to assure that such requirements have been met.
- The Fellowship must begin between April 1 and December 31, 2010.
- The period of training for which the funds will be used may not be less than 12 months.
- The funds must be used for advanced scholarly clinical training in mechanical circulatory support and total artificial heart therapy and cannot be used to supplement other funding received for the same work.
- At least 25% of the fellow’s time must be devoted to research, with the balance devoted to clinical practice.
- At completion it is expected that the fellow will demonstrate proficiency by satisfying Joint Commission requirements for implantation experience with at least 10 long term Ventricular Assist Devices (“VADs”).
- The fellow is expected to learn postoperative care and management of complications after VAD implant.
- The fellow is expected to participate in educational and training programs for mechanical circulatory support.
- The fellowship should include appropriate proficiency testing or evaluative processes administered by the teaching physician, in addition to Joint Commission requirements.
- Candidates must demonstrate a strong desire to continue to build and support the Mechanical Circulatory Support field when they go into practice.
- The results of funded research must be submitted in one of the following formats within two years of the initial date of funding:
- as a manuscript to the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation
- as an abstract for the ISHLT Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions
- The results of funded research cannot have been previously published or presented prior to publication in the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation or presentation at the ISHLT Annual Meeting.
- ISHLT must be acknowledged as a funding source in all manuscripts and presentations derived from the funded research via the following statement, "This work was supported by a research award from the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation." Copies of these publications must be submitted to the ISHLT Headquarters office.
- Funding will be awarded in two portions. 50% of the funding will be provided initially, with the remaining 50% provided upon submission of a satisfactory progress report to the Awards Committee 6 months after the date of initial funding. The second installment of funding will not be made if the fellowship is no longer being conducted at the original institution.
- The award recipient and the award recipient's institution agree that the funds will be expended for the purpose(s) described in the application, that there is no duplicate funding for these purposes, and that no portion of the award will be used to pay for indirect costs or institutional overhead.
- The award recipient or his/her fellowship program director must be present at the Awards Session during the ISHLT Annual Meeting to receive acknowledgment of the award.
- The completed application form must be submitted accompanied by the following attachments:
- a curriculum vitae and bibliography
- a description of the work which will be undertaken during the year of support. This description should be organized into four parts and must not exceed five single-spaced, typewritten pages, including reference and figures:
- brief summary/overview describing the nature and duration of the proposed work
- project goals
- methods
- significance
- a brief summary of your professional goals as they relate to mechanical circulatory support
- a letter of recommendation from the Chief of Staff of your current institution of training
- a letter of recommendation from the Director of the Fellowship program at the proposed institution of study, if different than the Chief of Staff at your current institution
- a brief description, written by the Director of the Fellowship program, of the facilities and resources available and of the overall training program, including the number and nature of trainees in the program, and confirming that at least 25% of the applicant’s time will be spent in research related activities, with the balance in clinical activities.
- a budget detailing the anticipated expenses for the year of funding, the amount of support requested for each line of the budget, and all additional sources of funding. The award may be used for any portion of the budget, including salary support, except that it may not be used to pay for indirect costs/institutional overhead.
- The application and all attachments must be submitted as a single PDF by the applicant to ISHLT no later than February 1, 2010.
