ASE and ASEF Award $75,000 in Grant Funding to Early Career Investigators

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Contact: Natalie Costantino
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American Society of Echocardiography and ASE Foundation Award $75,000 in Grant Funding to Early Career Investigators in Cardiovascular Imaging

(DURHAM, NC, January 22, 2026)—The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) and the ASE Foundation (ASEF) have awarded a total of $75,000 in grant funding to support three innovative cardiovascular ultrasound research projects led by early career investigators.

The funding is provided through the Society’s EDGES (Early-Career Development Grant for Echo Scientists) program, which supports research addressing clinical gaps in cardiovascular ultrasound.

“The 2025 EDGES award winners were selected from a highly competitive group of research grant proposals. This year’s applications reflected the high quality of young investigators in the field of cardiovascular imaging research,” said ASE Research Committee Chair and ASEF Board of Directors member, Brian Davidson, MD, FASE. “The tremendous interest in the EDGES awards is evidence of the high demand for early funding opportunities that can have a major impact in supporting investigators at the beginning of their careers.”

The 2025 EDGES recipients, each awarded a $25,000 grant, will conduct studies covering a range of research areas:

• Jah Yeon Choi, MD, PhD, a research fellow in cardiovascular imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School and an associate professor of cardiology at Korea University College of Medicine in South Korea, aims to compare surgical mitral valve repair and transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (TEER) in patients with mitral valve prolapse by leveraging high-resolution strain imaging to assess biomechanical changes and long-term remodeling. In her work, she is seeking to advance precision imaging approaches to better predict arrhythmic outcomes and guide personalized intervention strategies.
• Andrea Jones, MD, FASE, an assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania and an attending physician in the Division of Cardiology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, will study imaging and biochemical predictors of outcomes in patients with congenital heart disease and pulmonary hypertension to improve clinical decision-making.
• Yosuke Katayama, MD, PhD, a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney in Australia and an interventional cardiologist, will use the grant to develop echocardiography-based approaches to optimize therapeutic ultrasound and evaluate its physiological effects in cardiac microvascular dysfunction. He aims to establish a translational research platform that bridges advanced cardiac imaging and therapeutic ultrasound to support novel, non-invasive treatment strategies for heart disease.

ASE Research Committee Co-Chair Allison Hays, MD, FASE, explained the significance of this funding.

”The EDGES grant is incredibly important for early-career investigators who have strong ideas but limited access to traditional funding. It gives young echo scientists the time, resources and confidence to build meaningful research programs and take the next step toward independent funding,” said Hays.

Funded by ASEF through charitable donations, ASE developed the EDGES research program to create an avenue for the continued evolution of cardiovascular ultrasound. Since 2023, the Society has awarded $175,000 to seven recipients. Dr. Davidson shared that some prior EDGES awardees are now obtaining further national funding to continue their research. ASE and ASEF plan to offer its EDGES grants annually to support technical advancements and new applications of echocardiography.

Learn more about ASEF’s research grant funding projects at ASEFoundation.org/Research.

About American Society of Echocardiography
The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) is the Society for Cardiovascular Ultrasound Professionals™. ASE is the largest global organization for cardiovascular ultrasound imaging serving physicians, sonographers, nurses, veterinarians, and scientists and as such is the leader and advocate, setting practice standards and guidelines for the field. The Society is committed to advancing cardiovascular ultrasound to improve lives. For more information, visit the ASE website ASEcho.org or social media pages on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Instagram and Bluesky.

About American Society of Echocardiography Foundation

The ASE Foundation (ASEF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation created in 2003 as ASE’s charitable arm. The Foundation helps to assure the viability and visibility of cardiovascular ultrasound. Dependent upon donor giving not supported by membership dues, ASEF funds initiatives such as training scholarships, guidelines-based projects, research, patient education, and global health outreach. For more information, visit the ASEF website ASEFoundation.org.

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