The American Venous Forum (AVF) is dedicated to the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of venous disease, including the incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) leading to fatal pulmonary emboli (PE) – the leading preventable cause of death in hospitalized patients.

One key to prevention is performing a thorough risk assessment. The Caprini Risk Score (CRS), developed by AVF Past President Joseph A. Caprini MD, incorporates 40 risk factors and has been tested in more than 5,000,000 patients worldwide in both medical and surgical populations.

A multidisciplinary CRS-AVF committee of more than 30 members from around the world is currently working on improvements to the current Caprini score. A key component of this initiative is to devise ways to collect data using a variety of methods, including machine learning tools that have been shown to not only facilitate data collection but also to serve as good predictive models based on proper input.

The American Venous Forum, through generous support from Janssen Pharmaceuticals, has established a new AVF-Janssen Fellowship and awarded $50,000 to develop unique mechanisms for data collection. The goals of this fellowship include:

• Support the CRS-AVF initiative to create an updated score
• Develop unique mechanisms for data collection
• Using proven machine learning tools, create a prediction tool for VTE to further improve the sensitivity of the CRS.
  • Example 1: “A Machine Learning Approach to Predict Deep Venous Thrombosis Among Hospitalized Patients”
  • Example 2: “Predicting venous thromboembolism in hospitalized trauma patients: a combination of the Caprini score and data-driven machine learning model.”

Eligibility:

• The applicant, as lead researcher, must be a fellow in a recognized fellowship program located in the United States with a minimum of two additional trainees and an established mentor.
• Applicants must attest, in their cover letter, that they are not currently excluded by the Office of the Inspector General from participation in Medicare, Medicaid, or other Federal health care programs and that both the applicant and their institution are not currently included on the FDA department list or the EPLS list.
• Applicants are required to include a letter from the Program Director confirming a twelve-month commitment to the project and enough time dedicated to research during this period.
• The applicant must demonstrate their abilities and availability to begin this project by October 1, 2021 and complete the project within 12 months.
• The awardee would be expected to present their report at the next annual AVF Meeting following project completion – either February 2022 or February 2023, depending on the scope and timeline of the awarded Fellowship.
• The awardee agrees to submit their results for publication in the Journal of Vascular Surgery Venous and Lymphatic Disease.
• The awardee would be expected to become a member of the American Venous Forum and maintain that membership through their report at the AVF Annual Meeting,
• The awardee’s institution must provide a signed W-9 prior to the initial disbursement.  Subsequent requests for disbursement after six months and after completion must be accompanied by a formal letter of request for funding, an itemized invoice correlating to the originally submitted budget, and update on the status of the research project.
• The grant award WILL NOT pay for indirect costs to the researcher’s university or facility.