Return to Emerging Leaders Home
Applications for the Salim Yusuf Emerging Leaders Programme 2025 are now open.
In 2025, the programme focused on leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the field of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD), with an emphasis on Implementation Science, will offer selected candidates the opportunity to participate in a five-day seminar, hosted by WHF President Dr Jagat Narula and UTHealth Houston scheduled for 20 – 24 October 2025, in Houston, Texas, USA.
Originally developed in 2014 by WHF Past President Professor Salim Yusuf, this programme provides advanced training and networking opportunities in cardiovascular health policy and implementation research. It is designed for healthcare practitioners, researchers, and global health advocates seeking to drive meaningful change in cardiovascular care delivery.
Each year, the World Heart Federation (WHF) aims to attract a diverse pool of applicants, encouraging individuals from academia, civil society, the healthcare sector, and the private sector to apply. While affiliation with a WHF member organization is welcomed, it is not a requirement for participation.
The selected cohort will engage in online training sessions, a five-day think tank seminar, and collaborative group work centered on developing actionable proposals. WHF will offer seed funding support for selected projects. Through this immersive experience, emerging leaders will explore how AI can revolutionize cardiovascular care and close the gap between evidence and real-world practice, with a clear focus on implementation science and tangible impact.
“Reasons to apply to join the Emerging Leaders Programme? Fantastic peers, mentors and networks. Reasons not to? None. Join a growing community of early-career professionals focused on global approaches to CVD prevention.”
Prof Amitava Banerjee, WHF Board Member 2025-2026 & Emerging Leader 2014
Application Requirements
The selection committee will expect candidates to demonstrate their passion for improving CVD care and making a difference at the grassroots level and beyond.
Candidates are asked to provide the following supporting documents (in English):
- 1,000 word (maximum) personal statement demonstrating:
- The candidate’s rationale for applying
- Prior experience working with local, regional, or national governments of non-governmental agencies to improve cardiovascular health
- Unique attributes that each candidate brings to the programme
- Demonstration of creativity, disruptive innovation or both to spark change.
- Describe a specific way in which artificial intelligence (AI), integrated with mobile phones, could be utilized to reduce CVD risk factors in individuals or populations within your patient population.
- Provide examples of key challenges implementing an AI-driven, mobile health intervention.
- Discuss potential sustainability challenges of implementing an AI and mobile phone intervention over the long term.
- Curriculum Vitae
- One published writing example (if multi-author publication, candidates should select an example where they are either first or last author)
- Letter(s) of support from a local mentor and departmental head (joint letter acceptable), outlining support for participation in the Programme
- One-minute (maximum) video presentation outlining why the candidate wants to participate in the Salim Yusuf Emerging Leaders Programme
Selection Criteria
- Candidates must be able to communicate fluently in verbal and written English.
- Emerging leaders will generally be considered to be early- to mid-career applicants who have completed their clinical training or tertiary education.
- Demonstration of leadership abilities and skills, either through positions of leadership or examples of leadership during recent or current projects.
- Demonstration of written communication abilities and skills through a recently published manuscript or another scholarly article.
- Demonstration of productivity relevant to the applicant’s particular field as demonstrated through peer-reviewed publications, grants awarded, projects led and completed, or other field-specific metrics of productivity.
How To Apply
Applications for the 2025 Emerging Leaders Programme are are now closed.
If you have any questions, please email emergingleaders@worldheart.org
Cohort announcement
June 2025
Emerging leaders soundbites
Latest News
World Drug Day: A new frontier for heart health advocacy
The World Heart Federation is proud to observe World Drug Day for the first time, joining the international community in raising awareness about the impact of psychoactive drug use on cardiovascular health. Extensive evidence shows that various psychoactive drugs can severely affect the heart, triggering acute events, such as myocardial infarctions and strokes, and/or contributing […]
No More Smoke and Mirrors: Exposing Industry Tactics to Protect Heart Health
The World Heart Federation is proud to celebrate World No Tobacco Day with the global cardiovascular and tobacco control communities, under the theme Unmasking the Appeal: Exposing Industry Tactics on Tobacco and Nicotine Products. Tobacco remains a major – yet entirely preventable – risk factor for cardiovascular disease, responsible for approximately 15% of all cardiovascular-related […]
Advancing Cardiovascular Health on the Global Stage
The World Heart Federation (WHF) proudly represented the global cardiovascular community at the Seventy-Eighth World Health Assembly (WHA78), which concluded on 27 May 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland. Throughout the Health Assembly, WHF delivered a series of high-impact statements across a range of agenda items to ensure that cardiovascular health remains central to global health priorities, […]
Addressing Neglected Cardiovascular Conditions in Women and Children
This statement was delivered by the World Heart Federation under agenda item 13.9 – Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health – at the Seventy-Eighth World Health Assembly. Honourable Chair, Distinguished Delegates, The World Heart Federation applauds the Director-General for his report and welcomes the newly released guidelines on rheumatic heart disease – […]
