Strategic Alignment Grant
The purpose of the AAR Research and Education Foundation Strategic Alignment Grant (SAG) is to advance the long-range strategic organizational goals of the AAR by awarding one year length grant(s) to applicants who address identified strategic priorities.
Application Process
Proposals that are aligned with any of the AAR strategic priorities are encouraged. Additionally, the AAR Research and Education Foundation has identified the following focus areas for this year's grant.
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• Develop strategies to prepare academic radiologists, educators, and trainees for the responsible integration of artificial intelligence into education, research, and clinical practice.
• Develop strategies to recruit, support, and retain a diverse and thriving academic radiology workforce through mentorship, leadership development, and career advancement.
• Advance innovative educational models and evidence-based approaches that enhance teaching excellence, learner outcomes, and educator development across the continuum of radiology education.
• Develop collaborative initiatives that strengthen multicenter research, health services research, implementation science, and quality improvement to advance the mission of academic radiology.
We require the grantee to present their work at the AAR Annual meeting. (Please note report deadlines and reference these requirements in conjunction with programming and scheduling of the AAR Annual Meeting).
Letters of intent must be completed and submitted electronically as a PDF file by 12:00 pm Central Time on September 4, 2026. The Letter of intent should include the following information:
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Descriptive title of the proposed project
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Name, address, telephone number and email address of the principal investigator(s)
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Participating institution(s)
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A 500-word abstract describing background, objectives, project plan, evaluation, and dissemination plan.
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Applicants will be invited to submit a proposal based on their letter of intent.
Please view the application instructional videos here.
Amount:
One or more grants, up to $20,000 (USD) in aggregate will be awarded. Funds may or may not be granted, depending on the quality of the received proposals. The maximum individual award may not exceed $10,000 for a one year project.
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The award may be used for project costs and/or salary support of study personnel. Funds may not be used toward salary support for the primary investigator or to support non grant related affinity group or association costs. The grant will not fund institutional indirect costs or overhead costs, or tuition.
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Travel expenses for the AAR Annual Meeting may not be paid by this grant’s funds.
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Unexpended funds must be returned to the AAR Research and Education Foundation.
The award can be renewed at no cost for a second year by request and upon approval of the AAR Research and Education Foundation. If additional funding is requested for the second year, a full application should be submitted which will undergo a formal review process.
Contact Information:
AAR Research and Education Foundation
E-mail: [email protected]
Grant Recipients:
| 2026 |
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Tessa S. Cook, MD, PhD - University of Pennsylvania
Enhancing Radiology Resident Education with an Interactive 'Must-See Cases' Platform and LLM-Based Feedback
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| 2025 |
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Nadja Kadom, MD - Emory University
Residency QI: Bootcamp – Simulating a QI Project
Aparna Singhal, MD - University of Alabama
Curriculum for Radiology IMG Empowerment, Acculturation and Transition Ease
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| 2024 |
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Peter Gunderman, MD, Indiana University
Radiology Resident Ownership Scale: External Validation of an Instrument to Measure Radiology Residents’ Sense of Ownership
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| 2023 |
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Courtney M. Tomblinson, MD, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
EMPOWiR: An Executive Mentorship Program for Women in Radiology
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| 2022 |
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Karuna M. Raj, MD & John R. Leyendecker, MD, UT Southwestern
Putting The Horse Before The Cart: Cultivating Leaders And Building Resilience In Academic Radiology Through Pre-emergent Leadership Training Targeting Emotional Intelligence And Social Competence (ESC) Skills In Early Career Faculty
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| 2021 |
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Judith Ann Gadde, DO, MBA - Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
A Comprehensive Hybrid Radiology Interest Group with Mixed Live, Virtual, and Recorded Events Targeting Underserved Medical Student Population: A Regional Pilot Program to Prove Efficiency and Scalability
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2020
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Michael D. Fishman, MD - Boston Medical Center
Cup of Coffee Speed Coaching – Helping to Develop the Next Generation of Leaders
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2019
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Nancy R. Fefferman, MD - New York University School of Medicine
Development of Standardized Digital On-line Diagnostic Radiology Resident Core Curriculum Lecture Series
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| 2017 |
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Tessa S. Cook, MD, PhD - Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Development and Implementation of a National Imaging Informatics Curriculum for Radiology Residents
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| 2016 |
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Stella K. Kang, MD, MsC - New York University Langone Medical Center
Value of Imaging through Comparative Effectiveness (VOICE) Research Program: A Collaborative Training Program in Biomedical Big Data and Comparative Effectiveness Research for the Field of Radiology
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