Priya receives $25,000 SCAI research award

SCAI.org - Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions

SCAI, Cordis Announce 2006 Fellowship Awardees




SCAI (Society for cardiovascular angiography and interventions) and Cordis, a Johnson & Johnson company, together honored two interventionalists-in-training at the Society’s 29th Annual Scientific Sessions in Chicago. As the recipients of the 2006 SCAI/Cordis Fellowship Program for Interventional Cardiology, Saar Danon, M.D., and Priya Velappan, M.D., will each receive a $25,000 grant to support their research in the year ahead.

The two interventional cardiologists-in-training should be very proud of this accomplishment, said Frank J. Hildner, M.D., FSCAI, who chairs the SCAI committee that evaluates the submissions and selects the grant recipients. “The competition was fierce this year,” said Dr. Hildner. “We had a record number of well-qualified applicants and research proposals of the highest quality. The committee agonized over its decision. We wished we could have awarded more grants.”

Ultimately, the proposals of Drs. Danon and Velappan stood out among the finalists because their projects “seemed to have more than the usual promise for important clinical application,” said Dr. Hildner.


Dr. Velappan, a fellow in the Cardiology Division of East Carolina University in Greenville, NC, will investigate “A Novel Pressure Waveform Analysis Algorithm for Assessing Physiologic Significance of Coronary Stenoses.” A new algorithm will analyze the waveform obtained from a pressure catheter passed through the suspect lesion. Dr. Velappan will then compare the results with the current gold standard of FFR to determine the algorithm’s validity. “We all know that subjective visual estimation of a possible stenosis may be incorrect. If this inexpensive technique is demonstrated to be accurate, then it will make the decision to perform angioplasty more certain and much quicker,” said Dr. Hildner. “There is real potential for the practical application of this technique.”



Drs. Danon and Velappan will attend the 2007 Scientific Sessions as guests of the Society and will present updates on the progress of their investigations next year.



Dr. Hildner stressed that SCAI is honored to partner with Cordis to offer this fellowship program. “I don’t think it’s possible to understate the importance of programs like this one that encourages young interventionalists to pursue careers in academic medicine,” he said. “The strength of this year’s proposals is evidence of how much potential there is out there. I’m so pleased that we are able to help these two young physician-investigators to launch their careers as researchers.”