The Team PHenomenal Hope research award program, the PHenomenal Impact Fund for Global PH Research, rewards studies of novel concepts in PH with a potential to transform the field. This is not limited to any PH group, pediatrics, or adult studies. Eventual clinical applicability is expected. As such, this program will provide an opportunity for individuals to affect the quality of medical care and improve the lives of patients with pulmonary hypertension.
This research program was created by Team PHenomenal Hope in 2019, and provides awards up to $50,000 to investigators during a 12-month period. This research award does not provide additional indirect costs, and the applicant cannot receive overlap funding. Global applicants are welcome to apply. The awards will be chosen by the Team PHenomenal Hope Award Steering Committee based on scientific merit, originality, feasibility, and/or clinical applicability to the diagnosis and treatment of patients with pulmonary hypertension.
The proposal must be deemed achievable within the one year time frame (July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024) and within the noted fiscal allocation. Applicants must be in their first seven years post fellowship, however if you are outside of this window, but have reason to believe your proposal otherwise fits our criteria, please contact us using the contact form on this website. Non-MDs are welcome to apply (eg. RN, PharmD).
Letters of intent should be two pages including a CV. Please also include details about your project and findings from your work. Tell us how this will transform the field of PH.
Final proposals should be no more than six pages long with an additional page for budget, budget justification, references, and a letter of support from a mentor, division chief, collaborator, etc. Please note that the $50,000 award does not have associated indirects, given that this is an award intended to support pilot research.
The Steering Committee for the program was selected by the Executive Board of Team PHenomenal Hope and currently has four members: Dr. Hap Farber, Dr. Patricia George, Dr. Raymond Benza, Dr. Hunter Champion, and Rebecca Vanderpool.
Timeline:
Monday, January 9, 2023 - LOI Submission Opens
Thursday, March 9 - LOI Submission Closes
Friday, March 17 - Finalists Notified
Friday, April 14 - Final Applications Due
Announcement of Award Winner - June
Steering Commitee
Harrison Farber, MD
Dr. Farber is a professor in the Department of Medicine and attends in the Medical Intensive Care Unit and on the Pulmonary Consultation Service at Tufts Medical Center. He also cares for a large number of patients with pulmonary hypertension at Tufts Medical Center.
He attended undergraduate at Duke University and completed his medical degree at George Washington University and his residency at the medical College of Virginia. He completed a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Boston University and Boston City Hospital Program. Dr. Farber completed an additional research year at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in basic science.
Dr. Farber’s research focuses on endothelial cell biology, in particular, the response of the pulmonary vasculature to injury and genomic and proteomic biomarkers of pulmonary hypertension in pulmonary hypertension associated with scleroderma. He has secured extensive government and private funding and is internationally recognized for clinical, investigative and registry contributions to the field of pulmonary hypertension.
Dr. Farber is Vice President of Team PHenomenal Hope, serves on the Board of Directors, and will be the Chairman of the review committee for these grants.
M. Patricia George, MD
Dr. Patricia (Patty) George is a pulmonary hypertension Pulmonologist and Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Program at National Jewish Health in Denver, CO.
Dr. George specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of PH. Her expertise adds to the growing National Jewish Health Pulmonary Hypertension Program. She came to National Jewish Health from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine where she served as an Assistant Professor of Medicine.
Dr. George received her medical degree and served as a resident at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She completed fellowship training at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine before joining the faculty. Dr. George has authored nearly 30 research publications and has presented at numerous symposia.
Dr. George is also President and co-founder of Team PHenomenal Hope, a non-profit organization that empowers endurance athletes to use their sport as a platform to raise awareness about PH and funds to find a cure. She has led Team PH to be the second-largest and fastest-growing patient advocacy organization in the country.
Raymond Benza, MD
Dr. Benza is the Director of Cardiovascular Medicine and Professor of Cardiology at the Wexner Medical Center of Ohio State University.
Dr. Benza is an internationally renowned clinician and research scientist in heart failure, cardiac transplantation, mechanical circulatory support, and pulmonary hypertension. He has helped develop a new risk algorithm for pulmonary hypertension that has modified the nation’s lung allocation process to ensure a fairer distribution of donor lungs for patients with end-stage pulmonary diseases. Dr. Benza received his medical degree of the University of Florida School of Medicine and served as resident at the University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Center. He completed his fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Dr. Benza was named Physician of the Year by the Pulmonary Hypertension Association in 2013 and has served on multiple boards, committees, and councils related to his work on pulmonary vascular diseases. He is a funded investigator for the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association and has published more than 150 articles in peer-reviewed journals in addition to several book chapters.
Dr. Benza currently serves on the Board of Directors of Team PHenomenal Hope.
Hunter Champion, MD
Dr. Hunter Champion serves in the Department of Cardiology at Southern Cardiology in Columbus, GA. In addition to heart failure and pulmonary hypertension, Dr. Champion treats patients with hypertension, coronary artery disease, heart rhythm issues, and valvular disease.
Dr. Champion received his B.S. in Biological Science from Emory University and his MD as well as a PhD in Cardiovascular Pharmacology from Tulane University. After his medical school training, Dr. Champion joined the Osler Housestaff Service of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where he completed his internship and residency. He subsequently completed his training in Cardiovascular Disease, Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology at Johns Hopkins where he was invited to join the faculty of the Cardiology division as an Assistant Professor in Medicine. From 2005-2009, he directed the Bernard Laboratory for the Study of Cardiovascular Disease. In July 2009, Dr. Champion was recruited to the University of Pittsburgh where he joined the faculty of the Divisions of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine and the Cardiovascular Institute as an Associate Professor of Medicine where he directed Translational Research for the University of Pittsburgh Vascular Medicine Institute. In addition, he directed the Clinical and Translational Vascular Unit of the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Champion is a co-founder of Team PHenomenal Hope along with Dr. George and has served on its Board of Directors.
