2009 Louise Lown Heart Hero Award

Community-based initiatives from around the world that promote heart
health are encouraged to apply to the 2009 Louise Lown Heart Hero
Award.

The Louise Lown Heart Hero Award recognizes innovative, preventive
approaches to promoting cardiovascular health in developing
countries and other low-resource settings.

Application deadline: 30 April 2009

Award amount: US$2000

Information about the award including who can apply, criteria, and
the application are provided below. The information is also
available in Word and PDF format at www.procor.org or by emailing
Juan Ramos, ProCor program coordinator, at jramos3@partners. org.

The award is administered by ProCor (www.procor. org), a US-based
communication network that uses email and the web to support
knowledge sharing of cardiovascular health among a global community
working in clinical, community, research, and policy settings.

Past recipients of the award include the Rheumatic Heart Disease
Prevention Program in Tonga (2008), which screens primary school
children for rheumatic heart disease and provides early, effective
treatment; and the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa
Children's Programme (2007), which teaches heart healthy practices,
such as growing vegetables for their daily meals, to over a million
children in rural and urban impoverished settings throughout South
Africa.

Dr. Bernard Lown, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, inventor of the
defibrillator, and founder of ProCor, created the award in 2007 to
honor his wife's lifelong commitment to the rights and wellbeing of
others through her work as a social worker, activist, and writer.

Who can apply
Applications are encouraged from community-based programs (non-
profit, governmental, or private sector) that have successfully
worked to promote heart health in developing countries or other low-
resource settings (i.e., disadvantaged communities in developed
countries) through innovative, preventive approaches. The Heart Hero
Award is not a grant. Applicants should focus on their past
accomplishments that deserve recognition, rather than future
initiatives that need funding. Programs that are accepted for
consideration but that do not receive the award will gain increased
visibility through ProCor among a diverse global community committed
to sharing knowledge in order to prevent cardiovascular disease.


Examples of eligible initiatives include community programs
promoting physical activity, nutrition, or tobacco control;
population-based interventions reducing diabetes, hypertension, and
obesity; patient-focused clinical programs increasing access to
screening, identification, and control of risk factors; advocacy and
policy activities; and resource development and dissemination.

Award criteria
Applicants should focus on one specific initiative rather than an
organization' s entire scope of work. The initiative must:
• Build awareness or support action that promotes heart health.
• Be community-based and innovatively respond to local health
needs.
• Demonstrate success.
• Be cost-effective and potentially sustainable.
• Have the potential to be adapted or replicated in other
settings.
• Have been in operation for a minimum of one year.


Application process and timeline
• Applications are accepted year-round.
• Deadline for the 2009 award is 30 April 2009.
• Applications are reviewed on a continuous basis by an award
committee.
• Applicants are notified whether their program has been
accepted for consideration.
• Information about programs that are selected for award
consideration may be published in ProCor's email news and discussion
forum and website (www.procor. org).
• Funds are provided directly to the organization or
individual with primary responsibility for the initiative.

For more information
Contact Juan Ramos, ProCor Program Coordinator.
Email: jramos3@partners. org
Telephone: 1 617 732 1318 ext. 3319