Research Fellowship Scholarships

The mission of HRS is to improve the care of patients by promoting research, education, and optimal healthcare policies and standards.

For over 40 years, HRS has played a vital role in nurturing emerging researchers through the HRS Research Fellowship Scholarship (formally known as HRS Research Fellowship Awards).

The Electrohysiology Research Fellowship Scholarships is a post-doctoral research fellowship scholarships in cardiac electrophysiology, aiming to encouraging and supporting the research training of MDs, DOs, and PhDs in cardiac electrophysiology, focused on basic and clinical research. These scholarships support emerging researchers in initiating their careers in electrophysiology research while advancing research in heart rhythm disorders.

Congratulations to the 26 EP Research Fellowship Scholarship Recipients!

The Heart Rhythm Society and the American Heart Association are pleased to announce the 2026 Electrophysiology Research Fellowship Scholarships Recipients:

Enrico G. Ferro, MD
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA
Research Title Project: Periprocedural Complications of PFA versus Radiofrequency Ablation in Contemporary Clinical Practice.

About Dr. Ferro

Dr. Ferro is completing his Electrophysiology Fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) & Harvard Medical School in Boston, where he will start as an EP attending in July 2026. For the past 10 years, Dr. Ferro also worked as a clinical investigator at the Smith Center for Outcomes Research at BIDMC, with over 40 publications assessing the efficacy & safety of novel cardiovascular therapies using claims, registries, and trials data – coupled with innovative statistical methods for causal inference. For this work, Dr. Ferro has been recognized with Young Investigator Awards from the American Heart Association (AHA) in 2019 and from the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) in 2026. For over three years, he also served as a Medical Officer for the US FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), evaluating cardiovascular devices to render regulatory decisions ranging from pre-market authorization to post-market surveillance. For his HRS Research Fellowship Scholarship, Dr. Ferro will study the safety profile of all commercial PFA devices leveraging a nationwide registry of over 900 hospitals across the US, through the combination of quasi-experimental statistical methods and large-language models / artificial intelligence to mine and adjudicate electronic health records.

Zibei Gao, PhD
Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY
Research Project Title: Role of IFNAR1 Signaling in Obesity-induced Atrial Fibrillation

About Dr. Gao

Dr. Gao is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology at Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM), where she investigates cardiometabolic mechanisms underlying atrial fibrillation. Her research focuses on the mechanisms through which obesity and inflammation contribute to the development of atrial fibrillation, with the goal of identifying new therapeutic strategies. She received her PhD from ShanghaiTech University (China), where she studied cardiac development and fibrosis and published her work in leading journals including Cell Discovery and Circulation Research. She subsequently completed postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco. Throughout her scientific career, she has maintained a strong passion and long-standing interest in cardiovascular research. In 2025, she joined Dr. James Lo’s laboratory at WCM, where she conducts research within a highly collaborative and multidisciplinary environment. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, exploring new cuisines, and spending time with her dog, Domi.

Charles Sillett, MPhys, PhD
Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Research Project Title: AI-Based Prediction of Stroke, Dementia and Progression in Atrial Fibrillation Patients

About Dr. Sillett

Dr. Sillett is a postdoctoral research scholar at the Stanford School of Medicine. He previously received an undergraduate degree in Physics from the University of Oxford and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences from King's College London, where he focused on high spatial resolution measurements of left atrial biomechanics from 4D computed tomography in patients with atrial fibrillation. Dr Sillett's research focuses on multi-modal measurements of atrial cardiomyopathy (AtCM). Through the HRS EP Research Fellowship, Dr Sillett aims to improve understanding of AtCM phenotypes, contribute novel methods to measure AtCM from clinical data and link stages of AtCM to adverse outcomes in atrial fibrillation patients.

Maria Toumpourleka, MD
University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK
Research Project Title:Neuroimmune interactions in atrial fibrillation

About Dr. Toumpourleka

Dr. Toumpourleka is a Postdoctoral Fellow and aspiring physician-scientist specializing in Cardiac Electrophysiology at the University of Oklahoma. She received her MD and MSc in Research Methodology from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, and subsequently completed her Residency and Cardiology Fellowship in Greece. She joined the Stavrakis Lab to investigate neuroimmunology in cardiovascular disease, with a focus on atrial fibrillation and HFpEF. Her research was recognized with the Basic Science Young Investigator Award at EHRA 2025. Outside of work, she enjoys ski mountaineering and live musical performances.

Minjing Yang, MD, PhD
Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, Los Angeles, CA
Research Project Title: Sex-Specific Effects of Mirabegron on Calcium Overload and Arrhythmia in HFpEF

About Dr. Yang

Dr. Yang is now a Postdoctoral Fellow under the supervision of Dr. Peng-Sheng Chen in the Department of Cardiology at the Smidt Heart Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre (Los Angeles, CA, USA). She completed her MD and PhD at Central South University in China. Her research focuses on calcium currents and small-conductance calcium-activated potassium channels, and their regulation by β-adrenergic receptors. Her current work is about sex-specific effects of mirabegron on calcium overload and arrhythmia. She aims to explore the cardioprotective effects of mirabegron and to understand the underlying mechanisms.

Join us to congratulate and honor the 26 Electrophysiology Research Fellowship Scholarship recipients during the Heart Rhythm 2026 FHRS Induction and Award Ceremony on Saturday, April 25 at 12:30 pm CT, in room S100AB.

The 2026 Electrophysiology Research Fellowship Scholarships are funded by

About the 2026 Electrophysiology Research Fellowship Scholarships

Each 2026-2027 scholarship includes:

A one-year stipend of $80,000.
Complimentary membership to the Society.
Complimentary registration for Heart Rhythm 2026.
$1,500 travel stipend to attend Heart Rhythm 2026.
Complimentary Heart Rhythm 27 faculty registration to present research findings.
Complimentary publication of the full manuscript related to your fellowship research project in Heart Rhythm 02.
Invitation to attend networking events powered by the new HRS Research Network.

Benefits

Through their experience gained during the HRS Research Fellowship Scholarships, recipients also will:

Mentoring Opportunities: Gain valuable support from experienced researchers, who will provide guidance, and feedback.
Networking Opportunities: Connect with peers, and leaders in the field, fostering valuable professional relationships and collaborations.
Skill development: Develop valuable hands-on experience to enhance research capabilities, sharpen critical thinking, and refine project management skills, while contributing meaningfully to advancements within the field.
Increased Visibility: Gain exposure in the research community.

Key Dates

Program Eligibility

Must have an MD, PhD, DO, DVM, or equivalent degree by June in the year of scholarship activation.
May not be enrolled in a graduate or medical school by June in the year of scholarship activation.
At the time of scholarship activation, the candidate cannot have completed more than five years cumulative of post-medical school or post-graduate school (whichever degree is applicable) research experience.
International applicants are encouraged. However, the applicant must be able to effectively communicate their results in English.
Proposed research must be relevant to the goals and aims of the Society. Appropriate fields of study include epidemiological, community, clinical, and basic investigations within the general area of cardiac electrophysiology.
Applicant should be intent on pursuing a career in independent research and interested in additional training under the supervision of a sponsor or mentor prior to a career in independent research.
HRS expects Fellowship recipients to use this scholarship to promote their long-term goals in the field. Applicants must devote at least 80 percent of their effort to research or activities directly related to the proposed research.

Program Policies & Resources

Questions?

Contact the HRS Team at [email protected].

Research Fellowship Scholarships

Congratulations to the 26 EP Research Fellowship Scholarship Recipients!

About the 2026 Electrophysiology Research Fellowship Scholarships

Benefits

Questions?

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