To be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives.
A $75,000,000 One Brave Idea award shows the American Heart Association Inc’s willingness to back large, concentrated bets on coronary heart disease. The foundation pairs that kind of multi-million-dollar research investment with a broad portfolio of investigator support, including research grants, fellowships, and career development awards for cardiovascular, stroke, and related health topics. Its recent grant list is dominated by university and hospital research awards, with repeated support for major medical centers such as Stanford University, the University of California San Diego, and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. That mix points to a funder that is deeply embedded in biomedical research while still using multiple grant mechanisms to support scientific talent at different career stages. The organization also funds collaborative structures, including research networks and centers of excellence, which suggests a preference for organized, field-shaping research efforts rather than isolated projects. Across its portfolio, the focus stays tightly aligned with heart disease, stroke, resuscitation science, and connected cardiometabolic and population-health work.
Cardiovascular and cerebrovascular research sit at the center of the foundation’s giving. In 2025, it awarded $9,313,952 to Leland Stanford Junior University for research and $8,341,851 to the University of Pittsburgh for research, both examples of its large-scale support for academic science. The foundation also backs stroke-specific work through formal programs such as the American Stroke Association - Bugher Foundation Centers of Excellence in Hemorrhagic Stroke and the Health Equity Research Network on Disparities in Maternal-Infant Health Outcomes. Its portfolio extends into career development and early investigator support through the Early Career Investigator Research Opportunities program. Beyond traditional biomedical research, it also funds health innovation through the EmPOWERED to Serve Business Accelerator, which supports health tech-enabled products, services, and collegiate entrepreneurs.
Typical awards cluster from small to mid-sized commitments, with a p25 of $10,000, a median of $26,000, and a p75 of $150,000. The recent grants table shows that the foundation also makes much larger institutional research awards when a project is scoped that way, including seven-figure and multi-million-dollar grants. The recipient list is heavily weighted toward universities and medical schools, and several institutions appear more than once across 2023-2025, indicating recurring relationships rather than one-off support only. The foundation is classified as a regular funder, funds individuals is false, and it also makes program-related investments. Several active programs are explicitly non-unsolicited, while others, including EmPOWERED to Serve Business Accelerator and the Health Equity Research Network RFA, accept unsolicited applications.
$198.2M
$2B
$1.1B
$1B
Most grants fall between $10K and $150K, with a median of $26K.
25th Percentile
$10K
Median
$26K
75th Percentile
$150K
About 6% of grants go to recipients in CA.
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Giving is national, and the recipient list is entirely U.S.-based in the data provided. The strongest concentration by recipient location is New York state, while Texas accounts for 6% of grants. Recent awards land in major research hubs including Austin, Redwood City, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Baltimore, Boston, Houston, and New York. The pattern points to a nationwide research funder with activity concentrated at major universities, hospitals, and medical schools rather than a single metro area.
Its main focus is cardiovascular disease research, stroke research and prevention, resuscitation science and CPR education, public health education and healthy living, clinical guideline development, and community outreach. The topic taxonomy also includes childhood obesity prevention, nutrition security, tobacco control, chronic disease management, and early childhood education and family support services.
The stated grant-size distribution is $10,000 at the 25th percentile, $26,000 at the median, and $150,000 at the 75th percentile. The recent grants list also includes much larger research awards, showing that its portfolio ranges from modest grants to multi-million-dollar commitments.
No. The recipient pattern is dominated by universities, hospitals, and research foundations, but the program list also includes support for health-tech entrepreneurs through the EmPOWERED to Serve Business Accelerator. That program offers grants of $50,000 to $100,000 and is open to unsolicited applications.
Yes. The EmPOWERED to Serve Business Accelerator accepts unsolicited applications, and the Health Equity Research Network on Disparities in Maternal-Infant Health Outcomes also accepts unsolicited applications. Other listed programs, including Early Career Investigator Research Opportunities and One Brave Idea, are marked as not accepting unsolicited applications.
The grant recipient distribution shown is 100.0% US, with 2,008 grants to U.S. recipients. The foundation’s active programs are also primarily U.S.-based, though some research programs note international participation depending on the network or award structure.
NANCY BROWN
CEO
2026
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2026.
Current and upcoming funding from American Heart Association that your nonprofit may be able to apply for.
Who can apply: Designed for rural hospitals; the content states that up to 700 rural hospitals can receive no-cost access. Specific institutional, geographic and application requirements are not provided in the scraped content.
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Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Michigan | — | $9,926,820 | 2026 | Research |
| Leland Stanford Junior University | — | $8,609,742 | 2026 | Research |
| Augusta University Research Institute Inc | — | $6,725,406 | 2026 | Research |
| Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General) | — | $6,170,675 | 2026 | Research |
| The Ohio State University | — | $5,725,318 | 2026 | Research |
| Kaiser Foundation Research Institute | — | $5,595,488 | 2026 | Research |
| Washington University | — | $4,880,322 | 2026 | Research |
| Johns Hopkins University JHURA | — | $4,489,912 | 2026 | Research |
| Emory University | — | $3,666,672 | 2026 | Research |
| Duke University School of Medicine | — | $3,316,966 | 2026 | Research |
| University of Pennsylvania | — | $3,154,043 | 2026 | Research |
| University of Pittsburgh | — | $2,982,095 | 2026 | Research |
| University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center | — | $2,872,823 | 2026 | Research |
| University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston | — | $2,564,885 | 2026 | Research |
| Brigham and Women's Hospital Inc | — | $2,561,279 | 2026 | Research |
| University of California | — | $2,543,884 | 2026 | Research |
| New York University Grossman School of Medicine | — | $2,423,132 | 2026 | Research |
| Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine | — | $2,413,511 | 2026 | Research |
| University of Iowa | — | $2,376,475 | 2026 | Research |
| Boston Children's Hospital | — | $2,333,080 | 2026 | Research |
| University of California San Diego | — | $2,308,236 | 2026 | Research |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | — | $2,212,690 | 2026 | Research |
| University of California San Francisco | — | $2,195,872 | 2026 | Research |
| Vanderbilt University Medical Center | — | $2,041,491 | 2026 | Research |
| Yale University | — | $2,041,135 | 2026 | Research |
| University of Washington | — | $2,012,478 | 2026 | Research |
| University of Colorado Denver AMC and DC | — | $1,951,926 | 2026 | Research |
| University of Kentucky Research Foundation | — | $1,907,815 | 2026 | Research |
| Baylor College of Medicine | — | $1,906,222 | 2026 | Research |
| University of Virginia | — | $1,823,589 | 2026 | Research |
| University of Minnesota - Twin Cities | — | $1,807,220 | 2026 | Research |
| University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | — | $1,795,522 | 2026 | Research |
| Weill Medical College of Cornell University | — | $1,740,029 | 2026 | Research |
| Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai | — | $1,724,184 | 2026 | Research |
| Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope | — | $1,714,744 | 2026 | Research |
| University of Arizona | — | $1,714,058 | 2026 | Research |
| Case Western Reserve University - School of Medicine | — | $1,668,976 | 2026 | Research |
| Wake Forest University Health Sciences | — | $1,631,402 | 2026 | Research |
| MAYO CLINIC | — | $1,495,488 | 2026 | Research |
| Children's Hospital of Philadelphia | — | $1,480,151 | 2026 | Research |
| Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center | — | $1,478,547 | 2026 | Research |
| Tulane University Health Sciences Center | — | $1,450,991 | 2026 | Research |
| University of Texas at Arlington | — | $1,385,000 | 2026 | Research |
| Columbia University in the City of New York | — | $1,373,127 | 2026 | Research |
| University of California Los Angeles | — | $1,366,113 | 2026 | Research |
| University of Houston | — | $1,350,030 | 2026 | Research |
| LSU Health Sciences Center | — | $1,306,526 | 2026 | Research |
| University of Louisville Research Foundation Inc | — | $1,274,413 | 2026 | Research |
| University of Florida | — | $1,234,852 | 2026 | Research |
| University of Alabama at Birmingham | — | $1,197,472 | 2026 | Research |
University of Michigan
$9,926,820Research
Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General)
$6,170,675Research
The Ohio State University
$5,725,318Research
Kaiser Foundation Research Institute
$5,595,488Research
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
$2,872,823Research
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
$2,564,885Research
Brigham and Women's Hospital Inc
$2,561,279Research
University of California
$2,543,884Research
University of Iowa
$2,376,475Research
University of California San Diego
$2,308,236Research
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
$2,212,690Research
University of California San Francisco
$2,195,872Research
University of Washington
$2,012,478Research
University of Colorado Denver AMC and DC
$1,951,926Research
University of Virginia
$1,823,589Research
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
$1,807,220Research
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
$1,795,522Research
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
$1,740,029Research
University of Arizona
$1,714,058Research
Case Western Reserve University - School of Medicine
$1,668,976Research
University of Texas at Arlington
$1,385,000Research
University of California Los Angeles
$1,366,113Research
University of Houston
$1,350,030Research
LSU Health Sciences Center
$1,306,526Research
University of Florida
$1,234,852Research
University of Alabama at Birmingham
$1,197,472Research
