AHA Innovative Project Award
Funds investigators in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular science pursuing unconventional and high-risk ideas with strong innovation potential.
The AHA Innovative Project Award is the American Heart Association's high-risk research route for work that could change how cardiovascular or cerebrovascular science is framed. It sits alongside the association's more structured early-career and institutional awards, but it is the one that explicitly prizes new ideas over preliminary validation. The award is $200,000 over two years, or $100,000 a year including indirect costs. Applicants must hold a post-baccalaureate PhD or doctoral clinical degree, be beyond fellowship stage, hold AHA Professional Membership at submission, and apply from a qualified U.S. nonprofit institution. Preliminary data is not allowed. One award each year is co-funded with the American Headache Society on migraine and cardiovascular health. This is the right fit for investigators with a sharp hypothesis and a disciplined plan to test something genuinely different. Strong applications make the risk easy to understand, keep the scope tight, and show why the question matters now even without an established data package.
No upcoming rounds verified. Cadence: Annual.