The applicant must

• Be a member of the American Heart Association.
• Be in training as an undergraduate or predoctoral student, as a resident/fellow, or a PhD/MD in the first 4 years after completion of their training.
• Be accepted for oral or poster presentation at the QCOR Annual Conference 2013.
• Be the first author of the submitted abstract, which must not be published before the QCOR Annual Conference 2013. Abstract must meet the annual conference criteria and be selected for presentation.
• The candidate may not submit more than one application, and may not have been a recipient of this particular award at the previous AHA QCOR Conferences.

The applicant must

• Be a member of the American Heart Association.
• Be in training as an undergraduate or predoctoral student, as a resident/fellow, or a PhD/MD in the first 4 years after completion of their training.
• Be accepted for oral or poster presentation at the QCOR Annual Conference 2013.
• Be the first author of the submitted abstract, which must not be published before the QCOR Annual Conference 2013. Abstract must meet the annual conference criteria and be selected for presentation.
• The candidate may not submit more than one application, and may not have been a recipient of this particular award at the previous AHA QCOR Conferences.

• Five (5) finalists will be selected to present their abstract during an oral abstract session at the QCOR Annual Conference 2013.
• Finalists are required to submit a full manuscript* to the review committee by April 10, 2013. *NOTE: YIA finalists may be invited to submit a manuscript for peer review and potential publication in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. 
• Presenters will be graded in four categories: importance/impact of the project in the field of outcomes research, methodological rigor, quality of the manuscript, and quality of the oral presentation.

The applicant must:

• Submit an original abstract to the QCOR Annual Conference. The abstract must be in accordance with the rules and regulations for submitting abstracts and must have been submitted by the abstract submission deadline, January 25, 2013.
• Select the Young Investigator Competition during the abstract submission process.
• Upload the following into the abstract submission system by the January 25, 2013 deadline:
• Two (2) recommendation letters from applicant’s mentors.
• AHA membership number