At the time of application, the applicant must hold an MD, PhD, DO, DVM, DDS, or equivalent post-baccalaureate doctoral degree.

• Postdoctoral fellows are eligible to apply but must have attained faculty appointment by the time of award activation.
• Investigators who have been awarded NIH K99/R00 or R01 grants are not eligible to apply.
• The AHA will permit a Career Development Awardee to concurrently hold an NIH K award (other than K99/R00) if there is no budgetary overlap.
• The awardee must devote at least 10% effort to the Career Development Award.
• AHA research awards are limited to U.S.-based non-profit institutions, including medical, osteopathic, and dental schools, veterinary schools, schools of public health, pharmacy schools, nursing schools, universities and colleges, public and voluntary hospitals and others that can demonstrate the ability to conduct the proposed research.
• Applicants must have one of the following designations at the time of proposal submission – not award start date, depending on career stage and each individual’s situation. An awardee must maintain one of the designations listed below throughout the duration of the award. Please consult with your institution’s grant officer.
• U.S. citizen
• Permanent resident
• Pending permanent resident (must have filed Form I-485 for permanent resident status and obtained an I-797C Notice of Action that the application has been received by USCIS and case is pending)
• E-3 Visa - specialty occupation worker
• F-1 Visa – student (for predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows only)
• G-4 Visa - family member of an international organization employee
• H1-B Visa - temporary worker in a specialty occupation
• J-1 Visa - exchange visitor (pre- and postdoctoral fellowships only; all other awardees must obtain an H-1B or equivalent by the proposal due date)
• O-1 Visa - temporary worker with extraordinary abilities in the sciences
• TN Visa - NAFTA Professional
• DACA - Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals

At the time of award activation:

• An awardee must hold a faculty/staff position up to and including the rank of assistant professor (or equivalent).
• Within the requisite Department Head letter, the Department Head must affirm clearly that should an applicant not currently hold a faculty position, the applicant will hold the required position by start date of the award. Proposals will not be accepted with the intent to delay the award start date to accommodate the faculty appointment. It must be guaranteed by the award start date and stated explicitly by the Department in the requisite letter.
• No more than six years may have elapsed since the first faculty/staff appointment (after receipt of doctoral degree) at the assistant professor level or equivalent (including, but not limited to, instructor, research assistant professor, research scientist, staff scientist, etc.). If the candidate held the title of instructor during postdoctoral fellowship or residency years due to clinical or teaching responsibilities, that period of time does not count against the eligibility period for applying for the Career Development Award. The AHA will consider interruptions of work experience due to extenuating circumstances and clinical training.
• The applicant must demonstrate that adequate time will be devoted to ensuring the successful completion of the project.