GermaN HeaRTS - German Network for Heart Research and Trials in Surgery

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Torsten Doenst
• Subject Area: Cardiac and Vascular Surgery
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 456045573

Success in cardiovascular research is more and more influenced by networking activities. The German cardiac surgery field currently suffers a lack of such networking activities which becomes evident by a limited numbers of publications and involvement in the organization of and participation in large national and international trials. Although there are current examples for networking structures in cardiac surgery, the leading promoters are mostly non-surgeons. This fact creates a competence gap, which not only limits the representation of cardiac surgery in cardiovascular research, but also restricts the qualification of motivated young physicians and researchers. The applicants of this proposal already took the first step towards qualification and networking by successfully conducting the first young investigator academy 2018/19. In this program, a number of talented young cardiac surgeons not only learned the necessary scientific know-how, but it was also possible to form an international network with the American surgical trials network CTSN and implement the NGINS structure (New Generation Investigator Network of Science). In the course of these activities, it became evident that an organized networking activity focusing on research activities in German cardiac surgery is necessary. Thus, we founded GermaN HeaRTS (German Network for Heart Research and Trials in Surgery), a German network structure that pursues the following goals:1. Organized participation as well as conception and leading of multicenter trials2. Promotion of young researchers3. Optimizing the cooperation with international networks and trials (in particular CTSN)4. Facilitation of building multicenter databases and conducting multicenter registry analyses.A founding meeting has alread taken place in February 2020 and many cardiac surgery centers in Germany have already declared their participation. With this proposal, we apply for funding for meetings and coordinating activities for the implementation of this network structure. It is our goal within the 3-year funding period to stabilize and to strengthen the structure financially through collective research proposals in order to achieve a sustainable appreciation of the research in cardiac surgery in Germany.

• DFG Programme: Scientific Networks