American Heart Association

The purpose of the American Heart Association Institutional Award for Undergraduate Student Training is “to encourage students from all disciplines to consider research careers.”

The mission of the AHA SURF at UC program is “to increase the number of investigators in AHA-related research by introducing undergraduate students to: 1) the molecular and genomic basis of cardiovascular and stroke disease; 2) cutting-edge concepts of therapeutics in heart failure, myocardial infarction and stroke; 3) training in scientific reading, writing, and presentations; and 4) positive mentor role models.”

The AHA-SURF program will expose undergraduate students to intriguing research challenges and discoveries in cardiovascular disease and stroke, with the goal of encouraging these students to pursue research in these areas as they mature into scientists. Students will undergo experiential learning in some of the broad domains of clinical, translational, population, basic science, bioengineering and biotechnology, public health, and team science. Collectively, the program director and sponsors have expertise in these areas and experience mentoring undergraduate students. At the end of the 10-week training, students will present their work in poster form at the local AHA one-day symposium, thereby providing a convenient forum to promote the AHA mission to other students, research staff, trainees, faculty, and community members, with the goal of producing additional collaborations in AHA focus areas with experts outside this field.