Young Investigator's Award in Women's Cardiovascular Health: Q&A With Nandita Scott, MD
In This Article
- Mass General Brigham and Inova's Women's Cardiovascular Health have launched their inaugural Young Investigator Award
- Abstracts are due by Jan. 1, 2025, and three finalists will participate in the final competition round on May 9, 2025, in Boston
- In this Q&A, Nandita Scott, MD, director of the Mass General Brigham Women's Heart Health Program, discusses the need for more focus on clinical care and research for women, explains why this award was created to support aspiring young investigators, and gives advice for those that wish to apply
Mass General Brigham and Inova's Women's Cardiovascular Health have launched their inaugural Young Investigator Award. They are seeking abstract submissions for research on cardiovascular disease in women. Abstracts are due by Jan. 1, 2025, and three finalists will participate in the final competition round on May 9, 2025, in Boston.
Subscribe to the latest updates from Cardiovascular Advances in Motion
In this Q&A, Nandita Scott, MD, director of the Mass General Brigham Women's Heart Health Program and co-founder of the awards program, along with Amy Sarma, MD, of Mass General Brigham, and Garima Sharma, MD, at Inova in Washington D.C., discusses the need for more focus on clinical care and research for women, explains why this award was created to support aspiring young investigators, and gives advice for those that wish to apply.
Q: What problem is the Young Investigator's Award in Women's Cardiovascular Health helping to solve?
Scott: I think it's important to point out that the impact of cardiovascular disease in women affects everyone, as women represent 50% of the population. Women make the majority of the healthcare decisions in their family; however, cardiovascular issues unique to women have not been well researched, women remain undertreated, and we have room to improve awareness.
Q: What is the goal of the Young Investigator's Award?
Scott: We need to foster the next generation of researchers who are going to continue to impact and improve care in the women's cardiovascular health space. There are a lot of bright individuals across the country with an interest in the field who may or may not have access to leading investigators or programs at their institutions.
We want to elevate the next generation by giving them opportunities to present their research and receive feedback. The overall winner will get paired with one of the judges and get mentoring that may take shape in any form, including individual career opportunities and sponsorship to research collaboration.
Q: Who should apply for the award?
Scott: Trainees at any level and early career (within 3 years) faculty.
Q: How is the award funded?
Scott: This is a grassroots initiative. We are funding through Mass General Brigham Women's Heart Health Program funds this year. We're pairing with Dr. Sharma, and Inova Schar Heart and Vascular will support the following year in 2026, in Washington D.C. We've already received excitement from other investigators across the country who are interested in joining this initiative.
Q: What advice do you have for people who would want to apply?
Scott: Please don't be cautious about your submission. We welcome all ideas, even non-traditional ones. Those who don't make it to the final round will still receive the benefit of feedback and connecting with champions in this field. The top 3 finalists will be given a travel stipend to come to Boston and present their work to a panel of judges.
Q: What does presentation day look like?
Scott: We're going to start the day with a keynote speech by Emily Lau, MD, PhD, director of the Cardiometabolic Health and Hormones clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital. We will then have our top 3 finalists present their work, and finally the winner will be announced by the panel of judges. We are working on details for a luncheon post-event with judges and the winner.
Q: Who are the judges for the award?
Scott: The judges are Dr. Garima Sharma; Dr. Emily Lau; Harmony Reynolds, MD, from NYU Langone Health; Patrick Ellinor, MD, PhD acting chief of Cardiology at Mass General; Michael Honigberg, MD, MPP; and Kathryn Rexrode, MD, MPH, and Michelle O'Donoghue, MD, MPH, from Brigham and Women's Hospital.