We are thrilled to announce the creation of new committees to replace the scientific council within Young@Heart. Each committee will have a board member to supervise and guide activities, and will comprise a senior and junior community member. We are constantly trying to expand our approach to support our community and we will start with themed comittees as decribed below.

We invite all of you to submit your applications for committee positions on the Young@Heart website. We welcome members of all ages, genders, and educational backgrounds to apply. The most important requirement is a passion for advancing the cardiovascular field and skills that could be beneficial to the committee of your choice.

The committees will officially commence their activities on June 22, 2023, on the day of the DCVA Translational Meeting. All positions will be reevaluated and opened for new applications after one year. Previous committee members may choose to apply again for their current position, apply for another committee, or opt out entirely.

Please see the information below for a detailed description of each committee’s responsibilities and tasks. We encourage you to review the information carefully and select the committee that best aligns with your interests and abilities.

We look forward to receiving your applications and collaborating with you to drive innovation and make an impact in the cardiovascular field.

We will start working with committees that will be dedicated to an aspect of the Young@Heart portfolio. Each committee will have two board member to supervise and guide activities, and will comprise a senior community member and two or three junior community members. We will start with the following committees:

Communication
Events and education
Outreach

Each committee will meet once per month with all its members to discuss tasks and progress.

Communication

Supervising board members: Jozine ter Maaten and Martijn Hoes

Aims of the communication committee:

Share information about and from Young@Heart with the community and relevant parties
Be the first point of contact for third parties

The communication committee will be responsible for all communications regarding Young@Heart, this includes the newsletter, website, social media, PR (to a certain extent), merchandise, and content alignment with DCVA/DHF/NL-HI. The committee will also be responsible for the facilitation and matching in the mentor program. The committee will also monitor correct use of the logo/branding. Other content can also be created spontaneously by the committee depending on current events (e.g., ESC Congress Amsterdam 2023).

Goals of the communication committee for 2023:

Create a communication agenda
Align outbound communication with DCVA, Heart Foundation, and NL-HI (e.g., newsletter, posts, and announcements)
Promote events related to Young@Heart (in collaboration with the event committee)
Provide consistent content for all media channels related to Young@Heart
Explore new initiatives, these could for instance include reports of congresses and meetings for the website, interviews with mentors or key leaders in the cardiovascular field, podcasts, etc.

Event and education committee

Supervising board members: Diederik Kuster and Anke Smits

Aims of the event and education committee:

Support career development of community members
Translate this information into suggestions for events and educational content

Organizing meetings and educational events are very important aspects for Young@Heart. Our main goal is to provide a platform for interaction with young cardiovascular scientists from all universities in the Netherlands and to assist them in developing their careers, whether it is inside or outside of academia.

Goals of the committee for 2023:

Identify the most important/common subjects to be covered by events
Develop a portfolio of relevant workshops and speakers for (bi)yearly recurring events on these subjects
Co-organize events
Explore initiatives, including for instance a career development program for young participants, educational aspects and
Actively promote events and advise the board and talent program on novel ideas to support the main goals of Young@Heart

Outreach Committee

Supervising board members: Monika Gladka and Jan Willem Buikema

Aims of the outreach committee:

Develop plans and activities to reach new potential members that would benefit from the Young@Heart activities.
Strengthen collaborative national and international partnerships with other young cardiovascular committees

Young@Heart and the DCVA are continuously looking for ways to collaborate with relevant parties on a national and international level. For example, we aim to improve the interactions between biomedical researchers, clinicians, and engineers. This requires UMCs and Technical Universities to work together. The outreach committee improve connections between TUs (4TU) and UMCs (NFU) with the help of the DCVA, Dutch Heart foundation, and NL-HI.

Goals of the outreach committee for 2023:

Create a list of groups and organizations that we want to connect with.
Form partnerships with other international young committees in the cardiovascular field.
Held yearly scientific events with young DZHK (preferentially online).
Create an exchange fellowship between members of young international committees.

We only require a brief motivation letter to support your application. We will be reviewing whether your ambitions and motivation would match your potential committee and fellow committee members.

Please reach out to us (youngheart@heart-institute.nl) if you have any questions related to the committees and we will be happy to answer as soon as possible!