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Valerie Rusch Mentored Career Development Award

American Association for Thoracic Surgery

Applicant Requirements: Deadline ends at 11:59pm Eastern on 12/1/2026

Career Stage: Early Career Surgeons

Program Type: Career Development Award

Specialty: Multi-specialty

Status: Upcoming

Opens: September 1, 2026

Deadline: December 2, 2026

The AATS Foundation Valerie Rusch Mentored Career Development Award provides support for women cardiothoracic surgeons and the development of cardiothoracic expertise in low-to-middle-income-countries (LMIC – as defined by the World Bank’s income classifications by country). This career development award can be used for female North American thoracic and cardiac surgeons or trainees to pursue a research project in a LMIC or for a female thoracic or cardiac surgeon or trainee from a LMIC to support clinical observational training in North America, translational research, or the opportunity to have a visiting North American cardiac or thoracic surgeon-mentor provide training, education, or research support at the applicant’s LMIC home institution.

View Valerie Rusch Mentored Career Development Award recipients

Acceptance into the program may include one or more of the following*:

Up to $10,000 to allow for travel for longitudinal visits, intended as a visiting professorship (Rusch Traveling Professorship)
Up to $15,000 would support a cardiac or thoracic surgeon completing a 1-3 month observational clinical fellowship (Rusch Traveling Fellow)
Up to $50,000 would provide partial salary support for a 1-year translational research fellowship (Rusch Research Fellow)

Please note that not all facets listed above are required for acceptance into the program, applicant may apply for 1-3 parts of the program, identifying within their application what aspect or combined aspects best meets their career goals. Additionally, any award payments made to international individuals may be subject to federal tax withholding of up to 30% if a recipient is traveling to the United States.

Program Goal

To support the dissemination of science and practice in thoracic and cardiac surgery in LMIC. This career development award is designed to have a significant impact on cardiothoracic surgeons, the specialty, and LMIC, with the selected awardee sharing their findings upon completion of the program.

Hosts

The applicant is required to contact program of their choice and obtain a letter of agreement from host surgeon to be submitted with their application.

Duration of the Program

Longitudinal visits of between 5-10 days
Observational fellowship of between 1-3 months
Research fellowship of up to 1 year

Application Process

Applicants should provide a curriculum vitae with a full description of their surgical experience.
Letter of support from Surgeon Host or Mentor outlining plans for clinical observership and/or longitudinal visits.
One-page statement describing the relationship of the proposed research and/or fellowship to the applicant’s career goals and how this award will allow the applicant to impact health care globally.
In collaboration with the host institution, description of the proposed research, including background, specific aims, significance, and research plan (5 page limit).**
In collaboration with the host institution, description of research facilities.**
Detailed budget (up to 10% of the total funding can be used for indirect costs and/or overhead assessments. If selected, grant will be paid to the recipient's institution where research will take place for support of salary, research supplies, travel, and other legitimate academic expenses).**
Disclosure of other currently funded research projects and pending applications for support.**
Letter of support from the Surgical Chief or Director of Laboratory where research will be conducted addressing his/her endorsement of proposal and feasibility of the research proposal being carried out.* **
Most significant reprint.**

*For those looking to send letters of support for the candidate directly to the AATS Foundation, please email foundation@aats.org.

**Required only for candidates who are requesting funding for research support.

AI Based Application Success Predictor

1. Strong research proposal with clear clinical relevance (highest predictor)

AATS asks for a 5-page proposal covering background, specific aims, significance, and research plan. Successful applications typically show:

a clearly defined research question
direct relevance to cardiac, thoracic, or congenital surgery
strong potential to improve surgical outcomes, techniques, or translational science
feasible methodology with realistic milestones

Reviewers explicitly use peer review to assess scientific merit and feasibility.

2. Strong academic trajectory / early evidence of productivity

Past recipients often already show strong academic momentum before award:

first-author publications in cardiothoracic surgery
prior presentations at AATS/STS or major surgical meetings
evidence of ongoing research productivity
clear pathway toward becoming an academic surgeon-scientist

A 2022 outcome study found AATS-funded investigators later achieved high publication output, strong citation metrics, and frequent academic promotion.

3. Institutional environment & mentor support

This appears especially important.

Applications require a letter of support from:

division chief
department chair
or laboratory director

Strong applications usually demonstrate:

protected research time
access to lab/clinical datasets
senior mentorship from established cardiothoracic investigators
institutional commitment to the applicant’s academic development

Reviewers seem to favor proposals where the institution clearly enables completion of the project.

4. Career-development alignment

AATS emphasizes that the research should fit the applicant’s long-term career goals.

A competitive application usually explains:

Why this project matters now in your career
How it helps transition to independence
What larger grant it will lead to next (NIH K/R awards, foundation funding, multicenter studies)

For mid-career programs AATS specifically asks applicants to describe how the award will lead to future funding.

5. Evidence the project can generate future external funding

One of the strongest indirect predictors.

AATS often supports projects likely to generate:

pilot data
preliminary mechanistic findings
publishable outcomes that can support later NIH or equivalent applications

Notably, ~45% of prior AATS awardees later obtained NIH funding, which suggests reviewers value projects with strong “next grant” potential.

Specialties

Cardiothoracic Surgery

Eligibility Requirements

Practicing female thoracic and cardiac surgeons, or those enrolled in thoracic or cardiac surgery training programs. The program strongly encourages applicants from LMIC.

Longitudinal visits with thoracic or cardiac surgery mentor: Letter of support from surgeon mentor.

Observational fellowship: Eligible to enter country of proposed observational fellowship and letter of support including observership details from host program.

Research fellowship: Eligible for employment in country of proposed research fellowship, letter of support including research plan from host program.

Eligible Countries:

United States

Sponsor Details

Sponsor Institute/Organizations: American Association for Thoracic Surgery

Sponsor Type: Corporate/Non-Profit

Address: 10304 Eaton Place Suite 100 #1035 Fairfax, VA 22030

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