The 2022 grant recipients were appointed as science ambassadors

From the left it is: Dung Nguen Riis, Filip Gnesin, Milad Hasani, Johannes Grand, Stephanie Thuy Duong Pham, Rasmus Reeh, Charlotte Glinge, Josephine Maria Kanta, Mélodie Jil Schneider, Andrietta Grentzmann, Sofie Dannesbo, Casper Bang, Regitse Højgaard Christensen, Jan Walther D. Shanmuganthan, Asli Bahar Topaktas, Signe Amalie Wolthers, Laura Alonso Herranz & Carolin Sailer Photo: Nicolai Hildebrandt, AU Foto

Jan Walter Dhillon Shanmuganathan, PhD Student Aalborg University and Anne Kaltoft, CEO, Danish Heart Foundation. Photo: private

8 September 2022 by Lene Halgaard

August 15, DCAcademy grant recipients presented their research projects at the DCAcademy introduction course for 18 talented early-career researchers.

Earlier this summer, they received the positive news that they had received either a PhD scholarship or a postdoctoral fellowship.

“I feel very privileged to have received a PhD scholarship. I will investigate whether chemotherapy increases the risk of thrombosis. I’m happy that the DCAcademy has seen the potential in this type of research, and I hope to contribute to guidelines on this topic in the future”, says Jan Walter Dhillon Shanmuganathan, Aalborg University.

A highlight of the introduction course was when all the early career researchers were appointed as science ambassadors for the Danish Heart Foundation and the Danish Cardiovascular Academy. With this appointment follows an obligation to communicate the research emanating from the grant, particularly towards Danish patients with cardiovascular disease.

Being science ambassador gives an extra push

“It means a lot to be appointed as science ambassadors for the Danish Heart Foundation and the Danish Cardiovascular Academy. It provides an extra push, and the acknowledgement I have received by the Danish Heart Foundation and the DCAcademy provides even bigger dissemination opportunities for my research,” says Jan Walter Dhillon Shanmuganathan, Aalborg University.

He is looking forward to study the risk of thrombosis in cancer patients and report on this to fellow researchers, doctors and patients.

Research may make a difference for heart patients

At the concluding ceremony, CEO at the Danish Heart Foundation, Anne Kaltoft and DCAcademy Executive Managing Director, Christian Aalkjær presented the grant recipients with diplomas as a token of their new titles as science ambassadors.

“I was very happy to meet the 18 early career cardiovascular researchers, and it was an honour to appoint them as science ambassadors. You could see the enthusiasm shine from their faces, and I really look forward to following them and their research. Research which may likely make a difference for heart patients in Denmark – and in the rest of the world”, says Anne Kaltoft, CEO of the Danish Heart Foundation.