HFA Grants Programme

About the grants

The HFA grants programme provides an opportunity for young heart failure investigators and clinicals to undertake specialised heart failure research or training outside their own country, in an ESC member country.

Applicants are expected to apply preferably to one of the HFA ((pre)-accredited ICARe-HF Quality of Care Centres or seek out a centre which offers good research or training opportunities and is the most appropriate for the particular subject of the project.

The project proposal must be prepared in collaboration with the proposed host centre, for a period of minimum three months.

HFA Grant recipients will receive €2,500 per month with a maximum of €10,000 according to the length of the project.

The grant aim to support recipients participating in or conducting research in a partner laboratory/clinical centre, and to study or learn new procedures, allowing candidates to gain new clinical skills or experience.

Not an HFA Member yet? Join now to be eligible to apply for an HFA grant.

Timeline

Who can apply

Eligibility criteria

Applicants must fulfil the following conditions as of the date of the application deadline:

• Be under 40 years old
• Be an HFA Silver or Gold Member, or Fellow of the HFA
• Hold an MD but have not yet obtained a post defined as 'permanent', 'senior staff' or 'consultant' and be able to demonstrate expertise in heart failure through examination, practice, scientific publication in a relevant journal or abstract presentation at a national or international meeting: OR
• Hold a PhD, DPhil degree or equivalent, or have submitted a thesis before starting the research period relating to the grant

Selection criteria

Applications will be graded from one to five by an HFA-composed task force, on the following criteria:

• Candidate's profile (optimal career stage; achievements so far) – 20%
• Quality of the host centre in the research or training field and modalities, and track records or expertise in the topic of the application – 10%
• Citizenship or permanent residence in a low/middle income country as defined by the World Bank – 20%
• Feasibility and importance of the project with an assessment of sustained benefits for local/global CVD reduction – 50%

Applicants should consider these carefully when completing their application form.

How to apply

Applications should be submitted online before the deadline.

Before applying, please carefully read the conditions and regulations of the HFA grants programme.

Also note that the following documents are required to be completed and uploaded with the application:

• The applicant's curriculum vitae with the following information:
• Postgraduate career including present employment
• Previous training in clinical cardiology
• Research experience
• Academic record
• Publications in refereed journals relevant to this application – journal titles, page numbers and names of co-authors must be included.
• A document to be completed by the current head of department or supervisor
• A document with the description of the proposed project to be prepared jointly with the proposed supervisor
• A document to be completed by the future supervisor
• A document to be completed by an independent referee who is not attached to your present or proposed host department

Applications must be submitted exclusively via an online form accessible from the applications section of your My ESC account. Once logged in, click on 'New Grant Application' and 'Apply now' next to the HFA grants programme application form.

Apply Now

Note: The HFA grants programme application form will be visible and accessible only during the application period and if you fulfil the eligibility criteria. In case you cannot access it but believe that you are eligible, check your My ESC account to ensure that your information is accurate. If it is, please contact the HFA for assistance.

HFA grant recipient responsibilities

Grant recipients are required to submit a report on the work undertaken at the end of the project period and to inform the HFA of the appointment he or she proposes to undertake.

They are also encouraged to submit an abstract to the annual Heart Failure congress following the end of the project period and may be given the opportunity to present their project on the HFA stage together with their supervisor.

The results of a grant recipient's project may be published in the usual way at the discretion of the supervisor or head of department and submission to an HFA journal is encouraged.

The award must be acknowledged in any publication pertaining to the work carried out during the tenure of the HFA grant with the following sentence: "The author acknowledges funding received from the Heart Failure Association of the ESC in the form of an HFA Grant". One print-off of each publication should be provided to the HFA.

Grantees 2024-2025

Basic and Translational Research 

Daniella Costa-Dan, BR
Project name: Diagnostic and Prognostic utility of ANGP2 and DKK3 in Patients presenting with acute dyspnoea to the ED: A cohort study
Project place: University Hospital Basel, Switzerland
Exchange period: To be confirmed

Marco Tagliaferri, IT
Project name: Comprehensive Clinical Training in Cardiomyopathies and Myocarditis with a focused Research project on inflammatory Heart Disease outcomes
Project place: Barts - St Bartholomew's Hospital - Heart Centre W Smithfield, London
Exchange period: 3 February 2025 - 02 June 2025

Clinical Training

Valerija Perić, SRB
Current Institution:  Department of Cardiology - University Clinical Centre of Serbia, Belgrade
Host Institute: University Hospital Germans Trias and Pujol de Badalona, Barcelona, Spain

Topic: Imaging and biomarkers of myocardial fibrosis in HFpEF

Exchange period : 1 July 2025 - 1 April 2026

Renzo Laborante, IT
Current Institution: Department of Advanced Biomedical Sciences - Catholic University of the Sacred Heart-Policlinico Universitario Fondazione Agostino Gemelli, Milan, Italy
Host Institute: Karolinska Institutet Norrbacka in Stockholm, Sweden

Topic: Optimal medical therapy score in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction

Exchange period : 1 March 2025 - 1 March 2026

Grantees 2023-2024

Basic and Translational Research

Alessandra Cuomo, IT
Project name: Cytokines as Biomarkers in Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension
Project place: Research Unit Inserm UMR_S 999, Pulmonary Hypertension: pathophysiology and novel therapies, Université Paris-Saclay, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, France
Exchange period: 1 May 2023 - 30 April 2024

Federico Capone, IT
Project name: Quantitative and Functional Evaluation of Ceramides in Cardiometabolic HFpEF
Project place: Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) - Schiattarella Lab Translational Approaches in Heart Failure and Cardiometabolic Disease
Exchange period: 1 April 2023  - 31 March 2024

Clinical Training

Christian Basile, IT
Current Institution: Department of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, University of Naples “Federico II”,  Italy
Host Institute: Department of Translational Medical Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Exchange period : 1 January 2024 – 31 December 2024

Cornelia Margineanu, RO
Current Institution: Emergency Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases, Bucharest, Romania
Host Institute: St Georges’s University Hospital NHS, Cardiology Care Group, London, UK
Exchange period: 15 May 2024 - 15 May 2025