Cardiovascular Innovation Fellowship

Training the next generation of cardiovascular clinician-innovators in an intensive, in-house one-of-a-kind experience.

View the video below to learn more about this unique program.

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Fellows develop skills in early-stage innovation value proposition, invention, and pre-clinical testing of new categories in device therapies and technologies serving critically unmet needs for people living with structural heart disease.

Candidates are cardiovascular physicians-in-training (cardiology fellows) or surgeons-in-training (residents or fellows) driven to think, communicate, and create entirely novel solutions that challenge the limitations of today’s standard-of-care offerings.

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Ideal physician candidates are:

Cardiology fellows-in-training (FITs) (must have completed at least 2 years of clinical experience in cardiovascular medicine)
Cardiovascular surgery residents or fellows requiring research
Post-doctoral fellows (e.g. T32) in cardiovascular medicine or surgery

Fellowship details/criteria:

Non-clinical with emphasis on multidimensional training in needs-driven innovation to champion emerging cardiovascular technologies
Built on the Stanford Biodesign framework
12-month program, full-time employment from July – June based at Edwards Lifesciences global headquarters in Irvine, CA
Innovation Fellows are part of the Advanced Technology group led by Farzad Azimpour, MD and Chief Scientific Officer, Todd Brinton, MD
Competitive salary ($190K - $200K) plus benefits, relocation package, and included housing
Offered in partnership with the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF)

Hiring requirements:

MD or equivalent medical doctorate degree
English language fluency / mastery in written and spoken forms
Demonstration of unique qualities that position candidate for leadership
Demonstration of creative pursuits

Selected fellows will work on multi-disciplinary teams to learn and apply a focused, needs-driven innovation process to identify, invent, and implement solutions alongside expert med tech innovators.

More About the Cardiovascular Innovation Fellowship

Building on Edwards’ legacy of innovation since 1958, the Innovation Fellowship was founded in 2020 to enable a “learn-by-doing” approach to support exploration of gaps and opportunities in structural heart disease care, and invention and testing of conceptual solutions in a pre-clinical environment. Innovation Fellows also gain a deeper understanding of the stakeholders and key elements which determine clinical adoption and ultimately change clinical practice.

The Innovation Fellowship offers the opportunity to work on a multidisciplinary creative team alongside leaders in design and engineering, regulatory affairs, quality, strategy and market research, health economics and reimbursement, policy, intellectual property and clinical trials.

Innovation Fellows will become active contributors to the team as they characterize unmet clinical needs and develop novel solutions with the potential to move forward to first-in-human (FIH) use. As part of this pre-clinical research experience, Innovation Fellows will co-design computational and bench-top simulation models for novel physiologic targets, invent and prototype new technologies, and implant and evaluate proposed solutions in bench-top, live large animal, and human cadaveric systems. They will receive training through experience, advancing personal development as clinician-innovators and key opinion leaders.

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2025-2026 Innovation Fellows

Fellowship Information Session

Note: We will begin hosting Information Sessions for the 2026 Fellowship in August 2025.