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ZOLL Foundation

ZOLL Foundation Marks Ten Years of Providing “Seed” Grants to Young Medical Researchers Around the World

2024 Grant Application Deadlines Set for March 31 and September 30

January 23, 2024 — CHELMSFORD, MASS. — Established as a non-profit organization in 2013, the ZOLL Foundation began awarding research grants to young investigators in the fields of resuscitation and acute critical care in 2014 and since then has expanded its focus to include pulmonary health and neuroscience. To date, the ZOLL Foundation has awarded more than $6 million in grants to 150 individuals and their respective institutions in 20 countries on six continents. Now in its tenth year, the ZOLL Foundation expects its total awards to exceed $7 million in 2024.

“The ZOLL Foundation’s vision is that our seed grants will support follow-on research that improves care and enhances training in clinical practice,” said Ward Hamilton, President of the ZOLL Foundation Board of Directors. “As our ability to provide more funding grows—with some grants now exceeding five figures—our original focus on resuscitation and critical care has expanded to include pulmonary health and neuroscience. We are proud to be able to help impressive young researchers from around the globe with early funding.”

Why Early-Stage Funding is Vital to Medical Research

Jonathan Elmer, MD, from the University of Pittsburgh, was an early applicant for a ZOLL Foundation grant to support a research project on Brain Oxygenation to Drive Care after Cardiac Arrest. At the time, he was a K12 Scholar at his institution, meaning he was provided protected time for conducting research and training in clinical investigation, but was not given funding to cover direct costs.

“High-impact scientific investigations generally require competitive grant support, which is a particular challenge for early-stage investigators,” said Elmer, who currently serves as Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Critical Care Medicine, and Neurology at University of Pittsburgh. “For example, a compelling large proposal to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) requires preliminary data and a track record of productivity, which in turn require grant support to generate. This becomes a ‘chicken-and-egg’ problem. Early support by the ZOLL Foundation was incredibly valuable for me as an investigator. It was the seed that supported development of the preliminary data necessary for my first major grant and eventually germinated into a sustainable career as a physician-scientist.”

Dr. Elmer and his colleague Patrick Coppler, PA-C, a 2018 ZOLL Foundation grantee, were published in Resuscitation on November 5, 2021 in an article entitled, “Optimizing cerebral oxygen delivery after cardiac arrest: A role for neuromonitoring.”

Lance Becker, MD, a Principal Investigator at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in Manhasset, New York, who also serves as Chair and Professor of Emergency Medicine at Zucker School of Medicine, has been a mentor to many of the 12 ZOLL Foundation grantees from his institution since 2019. “In my view, the ZOLL Foundation has correctly focused on one of the biggest challenges facing the resuscitation community: the paucity of young people who want to become the next generation of resuscitation researchers,” said Becker.

Upcoming Deadlines for Grant Applications

ZOLL Foundation grant application deadlines are March 31 and September 30. Criteria and instructions for filing an online application can be found on www.zollfoundation.org.

About the ZOLL Foundation

The ZOLL Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization that operates independently from ZOLL Medical Corporation. By providing "seed" grants for young researchers around the world, the ZOLL Foundation provides funding to support medical research that saves lives. Its scope encompasses a wide range of areas including, but not limited to, emergency medicine, critical care, trauma, cardiovascular health, pulmonary health, neuroscience, and translational research focused on applying discoveries to enhance training and delivery in clinical practice. More information on the Foundation, including a list of funded projects, can be found at www.zollfoundation.org.

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