Happy Coffee Week! We are now accepting donations towards our $5,000 fundraising goal, with all funds allocated to Cardiovascular Sonographer Leadership Development. 

Buy us a cup by donating what you would normally spend on a cup of coffee. When you give, don’t forget to share it online with #GaveACup and tag @ASE360.

Happy almost Spring! To kickstart our 2024 Annual Appeal and support the future of our field, ASEF is hosting a Spring Giving fundraiser, raising money towards our Travel Grants and Scholarships initiative. Help us raise $5,000 between March 17 – 23. Your donation supports the next generation of cardiovascular ultrasound professionals!

Registration for the ASE Foundation’s premiere fundraising event, the annual Research Awards Gala, is now open! Event information can be found here. We hope to see you there! 

The ASE Foundation will be accepting photograph submissions to this year’s Images from the Heart photo exhibit February 19 – April 19.

The images do not need to be medical in nature and do not need to have been taken while participating in a medical event. Photos may be of people, landscapes, cultural observations, architectural structures, etc. Think of the phrases, “I left my heart in…” or “This has my heart” when considering what photo(s) to submit.

Give us your best shot!

Full submission details available here.

Photo on the right:
Ancient City of Petra – Coming Upon The Treasury
Taken by Timothy Cordes, MD

ASE and its Foundation Award Three $25,000 Grants to Early Career Investigators in Cardiovascular Imaging

The grants will help fund echocardiography research projects led by early career members in the Society

The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) and the ASE Foundation have awarded grant funding totaling $75,000 for three innovative cardiovascular ultrasound research projects led by early career investigators.

The Society’s EDGES (Early-Career Development Grant for Echo Scientists) research program is intended to fund projects that address a clinical gap in cardiovascular ultrasound imaging through research directed by an early career scientist or investigator.

Three recipients were each awarded a $25,000 grant.

• Dr. Xuan Ding, a cardiovascular disease fellow at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., will use the grant to fund research in the development of cardiovascular ultrasound and echocardiographic technology and its applications to clinical cardiovascular medicine.
• Dr. Chieh-Ju Chao, an academic cardiologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., will utilize the funding for a collaborative project between Mayo Clinic and Stanford University Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence that seeks to develop an artificial intelligence-enabled echocardiography copilot reporting system.
• Dr. Son “Sonny” Duong, an assistant professor of pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Cardiology at the Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Heart Center and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, secured the funding for research focused on the utilization of large data sets and machine-learning technologies to analyze cardiac diagnostics and patient risk prediction.

ASE Past President and Chair of the Society’s Research Committee Dr. Jonathan Lindner explained why this funding is important for the field.

“ASE has always advocated that echocardiography must constantly evolve to meet clinical needs, and therefore prioritizes its support of cutting-edge research. The EDGES grants are designed to support scientists in cardiovascular imaging at one of the most critical times in their professional development,” said Dr. Lindner. “The goal of the program is to assist early career scientists who need financial support to continue their trajectory in echocardiography research, and to generate vital data that can be used for more comprehensive funding mechanisms.”

The EDGES research program was developed to create an avenue for the continued evolution of echocardiography through technical advancement and new applications to meet the needs of increasingly complex patient populations in four ways:

1. Fund early research that will produce preliminary data necessary for a larger grant application.
2. Demonstrate the recipient’s research potential to their division and institution, whose support will be critical for their development.
3. Provide critical and positive feedback for the early career imager who may be unsure if they can successfully attain funding.
4. Build a foundation for launching a research career separate from their mentors.

Learn more about these grants and the recipients 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, or Instagram.

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 engagement, and global health outreach. For more information, visit the ASEF website: ASEFoundation.org.

YOU did it! Thanks to contributions from 158 donors between November 26 – December 2, the Foundation raised over $37,800 during our GivingTuesday fundraiser, surpassing our $35,000 goal and raising more money than any other GivingTuesday!

We would like to extend a special thank you to these champions whose early pledges totaled over $4,000, helping to kick off our fundraiser: 

• Karla Kurrelmeyer, MD, FASE
• Bharatbhushan Patel, RDCS, RVS, RDMS, FASE
• Neha Soni-Patel, MEd, BSME, RCCS, RDCS (AE/PE), FASE
• Andrea Van Hoever, MSGH
• Susan Wiegers, MD, FASE

And a special thank you to the Patel Family Foundation for their generous contribution of $10,000!

Join ASEF for GivingTuesday: November 26 to December 2

Happy giving season! This month, the ASE Foundation will host its 11^th annual GivingTuesday fundraiser. Mark your calendars for November 26 – December 2 to help us raise $35,000, our highest GivingTuesday fundraising goal ever. We need your help to make this year’s ambitious goal a reality. Your contributions empower the Foundation to continue to host educational competitions, offer scholarships to students, and ASE guideline materials to clinicians worldwide, among other charitable initiatives.

ASEF is thankful for Karla Kurrelmeyer, MD, FASE; Bharatbhushan Patel, RDCS, RVS, RDMS, FASE; Neha Soni-Patel, MEd, BSME, RCCS, RDCS (AE/PE), FASE; Andrea Van Hoever, MSGH; and Susan Wiegers, MD, FASE who have already pledged donations totaling over $4,000! Contact Foundation staff at Foundation@ASEcho.org to make your own pledge.

2024 Student Travel Grant Funding Available 

Sonography students enrolled in an accredited CAAHEP cardiovascular ultrasound program are encouraged to apply for the 2024 Feigenbaum Cardiovascular Student Travel Grant. Supported by a grant from Elsevier, Inc. to honor Dr. Harvey Feigenbaum’s commitment and tenure as the first JASE Editor-in-Chief, this grant provides a $1,000 USD travel grant to assist a student enrolled in an accredited CAAHEP cardiovascular ultrasound program to attend ASE’s Annual Scientific Sessions or another ASE-sponsored 2024 educational program. Applications are due December 30 – apply today!

We Want You! Apply for an ASEF Board Position Today

The ASE Foundation is now accepting nominations for two open Board positions: one Member at Large, and one Global Representative Member at Large. These two-year terms will begin January 2024. If you are an active ASE member and meet the criteria outlined, ask a friend or colleague who is also a member to submit a nomination on your behalf. Candidates must submit all required materials by November 30. Questions? Contact Nominations@ASEcho.org.

Color Us Impressed! You Raised over $86,000 for Research at the 2023 Research Awards Gala

This past June we celebrated ASE’s 2023 Award Winners with our “All the Colors of the World” Research Awards Gala. It was a magnificent evening that highlighted the diverse culture of our members by encouraging attendees to wear attire that showcased their personal heritage. The Gala is the Foundation’s largest fundraiser every year and we are ecstatic to share that the event raised $86,871! These funds will go towards ASEF’s 2024 research projects, allowing the Foundation to continue to support the progress and future of our field by investing in the discovery process and in the careers of investigators.