First A. H. Couch Research Scholarship Recipient

Dr Mayanna Lund, Chair of CSANZ NZ, warmly congratulated CSANZ associate member Dr Daniel Chan on receiving the inaugural A.H. Couch Research Scholarship.

The intent of this scholarship is to support a cardiologist-in-training to accomplish a small research project. It is expected that this will be undertaken either before, during or at the end of cardiology advanced training. The project is to be undertaken within New Zealand.

This from Dan:

I would like to thank the A.H. Couch Trust for awarding me a scholarship to support my research projects next year. Heart failure is a major health problem and although internationally there has been a trend towards a reducing incidence of heart failure hospitalisations and mortality, crude rates and prevalence are increasing. There is little known about the current burden of heart failure in New Zealand.

By utilizing established national datasets, I plan to investigate temporal trends in heart failure hospitalisations and mortality in New Zealand. I also aim to assess trends by age, ethnicity, sex, region, socioeconomic deprivation, aetiology (ischaemic vs. non-ischaemic) and associated comorbidity.

By identifying the overall burden of heart failure in NZ and potentially vulnerable subgroups of patients with heart failure, I hope this research will provide insight to where the the management of patients with HF can be improved and guide more effective utilisation of resources.

To find out more about the scholarship and to apply in 2021, read the following documents and visit the website :

Couch Scholarship Application Form 2021
Couch Scholarship Flyer 2021