The purpose of the American College of Cardiology/Association of Black Cardiologists (ACC/ABC) Merck Research Fellowship Awards is to support advanced research fellowship training in adult cardiology thereby encouraging the development of careers in clinical investigation by cardiology trainees.

The ACC is grateful to Merck for their continued financial support for these awards.

Applications are due by June 2, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Award

Three one-year fellowships in the amount of $100,000 each will be awarded as salary support for a year of full-time research in adult cardiology. The year of research will begin in August 2025 and conclude by July 31, 2026.

Research Focus

The ACC/ABC Merck Fellowship Awards Program supports researchers whose projects have the greatest potential to yield valuable findings relevant to current concerns in cardiovascular medicine throughout the world.

Preference will be given to proposals addressing:

• General cardiology
• Heart failure
• Pulmonary arterial hypertension
• Cardio-metabolic disorders
• Disparities in care as they relate to cardiovascular disease

Outcomes studies should focus on clinical and/or systems of care (e.g., quality improvement) interventions, and use outcomes measures of importance to both patients and society, including mortality, significant morbidity or quality of life changes, or economic effects. The goals of the Program also incorporate a desire for patient-related clinical research directly involving patients or human subjects.

Eligibility Criteria and Selection

Applicants must currently be participating in a Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program recognized by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education or the American Osteopathic Association. Awardees may pursue this protected year of research either within or following their three years of Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship.

Applicants must also have a preceptor/mentor with recognized experience in the treatment or research which they are pursuing, as well as a recommendation and agreement from their program director and institution.

Preference will be given to individuals who have no more than two years of full time research experience in either basic or clinical research – though experience relevant to your project is important to outline in your application – and who would not hold another major external (e.g., from the National Institutes of Health or the American Heart Association) fellowship salary award during the ACC/ABC Merck Research Fellowship funded year.

One fellowship award will be awarded to a current member of the Association of Black Cardiologists.

Judging for the awards is determined by the ACC Research Fellowship Awards Committee and the ABC. Criteria for selection include:

• Scientific quality of the project
• Relevance to the research project focus as described above
• Qualifications and commitment of the applicant
• The quality of the training environment
• The projected Career Development Plan

Application Information

All applications are submitted online through the ACC Awards site. In addition to form fields requiring information about you, your educational background, and project, you will be required to upload PDF documents such as:

• Curriculum Vitae
• Research Experience Overview
• Project Proposal
• Career Development Plan
• Letters of Recommendation

Applicants must submit a complete online application by June 2, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. ET. Notifications will be sent by the end of August.

To submit, you must have an ACC.org account. If you do not have an account, create a free account through this link: Create a Free ACC.org Account. Once you have created your account you may return to the submission site, login with your new account information and begin by clicking "New" at the top right of the page.

Questions may be sent to awards@acc.org.