Research Grants
The 2025 AANA Research Grant application window is open.
The deadline date to submit your application is Friday, December 20.
AANA distributes grants for clinical or basic science research in the field of arthroscopic surgery or disorders amenable to arthroscopic treatment. The grant funding pool for 2025 has doubled from recent years and AANA hopes to fund one research project at $50,000 and six projects at $25,000. Fund amounts may vary depending on need and quality of work submitted.
The criteria for evaluation are:
- Scientific Validity
- Feasibility
- Clinical Relevance
- Ability to Complete
- Arthroscopic meniscectomy vs. physical therapy
- Superior Capsular Reconstruction (SCR) vs. primary rotator cuff repair (complete or partial)
- MPFL reconstruction vs. physical therapy
- Bankart + remplissage vs. Bankart repair
- Tendon debridement (patella, peroneal, quad) vs. physical therapy
- Arthroscopic labral reconstruction (hip)
- ACL repair and ACL augmentation
- Osteoarthritis after ACL injury and surgery
- Psychological readiness to return to sport
- Sleep disturbance and musculoskeletal pathology
- Hip FAI Outcomes and Predicators of Outcome
- Hip capsular management
- Shoulder bone loss management
- Rotator cuff patch and/or SCR augmentation
- Knee ALL or LET augmentation
- Biologics, cell and injection therapies for: osteoarthritis, soft tissue pathology and as an adjunct to surgery
- Innovations in surgical and nonsurgical interventions to accelerate recovery and healing
- Interventions that leverage patient-reported outcomes and health measures to better asses operative and nonoperative treatment
- Efforts to advance biologic, cell and injection therapies to augment surgical treatment or to avoid long-term sequela of injuries
- Projects that provide comparative evaluations of surgical treatment variables
- Preclinical investigations to provide foundational efforts for future studies
Review the Submission Guidelines (PDF) and Frequently Asked Questions (PDF).
View past recipients of AANA's research grant program.
Any questions or requests can be directed to AANA Research and Data Analyst Nick Sautter, M.S.: nick@aana.org.
The AANA Research Grant is funded in part by the AANA Education Foundation thanks to generous donations from individuals and corporations, learn more here.