Congratulations, 2026 EDGES Recipients

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Natalie Costantino
919-297-7170
[email protected]

American Society of Echocardiography and ASE Foundation Award $75,000 in Grant Funding to Early-Career Investigators in Cardiovascular Imaging

(DURHAM, NC, November 11, 2026)—The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) and the ASE Foundation (ASEF) have awarded $75,000 in grants to support three innovative cardiovascular ultrasound research projects led by early-career investigators.

The funding is provided through the Society’s EDGES (Early-Career Development Grant for Echo Scientists) program, which supports research addressing clinical gaps in cardiovascular ultrasound.

“The EDGES grant program represents an important investment in the future of cardiovascular ultrasound research. Through contributions to ASEF, we are able to provide early-career investigators with the recognition and resources that are vital to supporting new generations of ultrasound researchers,” said ASE Research Committee Chair and ASEF Board of Directors member Brian Davidson, MD, FASE. “We look forward to seeing how this year’s recipients’ work advances the field and the ways the EDGES funding helps accelerate their careers.”

The 2026 EDGES recipients, each awarded a $25,000 grant, will conduct studies covering a range of research areas:

• Prerana Bhatia, MD, an assistant clinical professor of cardiovascular medicine at UC San Diego in California and an advanced echocardiographer with expertise in structural TEE and multimodality cardiac imaging, aims to identify novel echocardiographic markers of subclinical hemodynamic maladaptation in pregnant patients with unexplained volume overload. Her career ambition is to advance cardiovascular imaging through research, education, and innovation, while building a program dedicated to improving cardiovascular outcomes for women across the lifespan.
• Christopher Kocx, MBBS, MPH, a consultant cardiologist specializing in multimodality cardiac imaging, a clinical lecturer in medicine and a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney in Australia, aims to develop and validate an automated echocardiographic pipeline for integrated right-heart assessment. Using an archive of more than 60,000 echocardiograms, his project will integrate measures of right atrial function, right ventricular performance and pulmonary arterial loading to explore their relationship with clinical outcomes.

• Lionel Tastet, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at Université Laval and a researcher in the Cardiology Axis of the Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec (IUCPQ-UL) Research Center in Québec City, Canada, aims to validate left atrial blood flow analysis derived from echocardiographic vector flow mapping as a non-invasive marker of arrhythmic risk in patients with aortic stenosis. His project will assess the feasibility and reproducibility of this approach, examine how left atrial flow responds to the hemodynamic relief of surgical aortic valve replacement and determine whether abnormal preoperative flow independently predicts postoperative atrial fibrillation.

Funded by ASEF through charitable donations, ASE developed the EDGES research program to create an avenue for the continued evolution of cardiovascular ultrasound. Since 2023, the Society has awarded $325,000 to 13 recipients. ASE and ASEF offer the EDGES grants annually to support technical advancements and new applications of echocardiography.

Learn more about ASEF’s research grant funding projects at ASEFoundation.org/Our-Impact/Research.

About American Society of Echocardiography
The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) is the Society for Cardiovascular Ultrasound Professionals™. ASE is the largest global organization for cardiovascular ultrasound imaging serving physicians, sonographers, nurses, veterinarians, and scientists and as such is the leader and advocate, setting practice standards and guidelines for the field. The Society is committed to advancing cardiovascular ultrasound to improve lives. For more information, visit the ASE website ASEcho.org or social media pages on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky.

About American Society of Echocardiography Foundation

The ASE Foundation (ASEF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation created in 2003 as ASE’s charitable arm. The Foundation helps to assure the viability and visibility of cardiovascular ultrasound. Dependent upon donor giving not supported by membership dues, ASEF funds initiatives such as training scholarships, guidelines-based projects, research, patient education and global health outreach. For more information, visit the ASEF website ASEFoundation.org.

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