SVS Foundation awards $80,000 for underserved vascular care projects

The Society for Vascular Surgery Foundation gave four $20,000 grants to projects aimed at improving peripheral artery disease detection, treatment and limb preservation in underserved communities. The work spans primary care, dialysis, community screening follow-up and rapid referral pathways in North Carolina, South Carolina, Puerto Rico and California.

Why it matters: - Peripheral artery disease care often breaks down where patients live, how they travel and whether they can reach a specialist in time. - The four grants are designed to move screening, education and follow-up closer to patients in underserved communities. - The projects target earlier diagnosis and limb preservation, which can reduce avoidable amputations.

What happened: - The Society for Vascular Surgery Foundation awarded four Vascular Care for the Underserved Project Grants. - Each grant is worth $20,000, for a total of $80,000. - The 2026 recipients will work on PAD education, screening, referral and follow-up care. - The projects are based in North Carolina, South Carolina, Puerto Rico and California.

The details: - Katharine McGinigle, MD, MPH, of University of North Carolina Medical Center will lead “Improving Peripheral Artery Disease Education and Treatment in Primary Care Settings.” - The UNC project will focus on underserved areas of North Carolina and build on partnerships with the NC Surgical Collaborative and the Carolinas Vascular Quality Initiative. - The initial work will involve primary care providers in two of the most underserved areas within the UNC Health system. - Adam Tanious, MD, MBA, MMSc, FSVS, FACS, of the Medical University of South Carolina will lead “The Dialysis Chair as a Vascular Clinic: A Multidisciplinary Program to Detect PAD and Preserve Vascular Access in Underserved Populations with ESRD.” - The dialysis project will embed screening and education into dialysis visits so patients can be reached where they already receive care. - The program is intended to use dialysis facility workflows, permanently located equipment and staff-delivered education. - Rafael Santini-Dominguez, MD, in Ponce, Puerto Rico will lead “Peripheral Arterial Disease Limb Preservation Hotline: Early Intervention to Help Avoid Amputations.” - The Puerto Rico project will create a rapid triage and referral pathway for patients at risk of limb loss. - The initiative is responding to delayed referrals, transportation and insurance barriers and specialist shortages in Puerto Rico. - Santini-Dominguez is a founder of a vascular acute care surgery transfer center that handles about 300 transfers each year. - Misty D. Humphries, MD, MAS, RPVI, DFSVS, FACS, of University of California, Davis Health will lead “Closing the Loop After PAD Screening: Confirmed Linkage-to-Care in Vascular Deserts.” - The California project will focus on what happens after community PAD screening by tracking whether patients actually connect to follow-up care. - The project builds on CHAMPIONS, a screening network that has reached more than 800 people and expanded to nine academic sites. - Humphries previously developed the “vascular desert” framework to identify communities with limited access to vascular care. - The VC4U program is intended to help build baseline data on where patients are lost to follow-up and support larger future interventions. - SVS Foundation Chair Keith Calligaro, MD, said the projects are intended to close gaps shaped by geography, community resources and patients’ ability to navigate the health care system. - Calligaro said the program is investing in practical, community-based solutions that could be adapted and expanded. - The grants were supported by SVS members and participants in the SVS Foundation’s Vascular Health Step Challenge. - The VC4U grant program supports initiatives that address unmet vascular health needs in underserved communities and develop models for future access, early intervention and patient outcomes. - The SVS Foundation says it supports vascular-disease research, innovation, training for future vascular surgeons and education and community initiatives. - More information is available in the society's announcement.

Between the lines: - The grantmaking strategy favors care models that fit into existing routines, such as primary care visits and dialysis treatments, instead of asking patients to make extra trips. - The mix of projects suggests the Foundation is prioritizing both upstream detection and downstream follow-through, since screening alone does not guarantee treatment. - The Puerto Rico and “vascular desert” projects point to a broader focus on access barriers, not just clinical technique.

What's next: - The grant recipients will move from funding awards into implementation in their local settings. - The projects are expected to produce workable models that can be broadened to other underserved communities. - The follow-up data from the CHAMPIONS-based project may help define where patients are being lost after screening and where future interventions should be aimed.

The bottom line: - The SVS Foundation is betting that smaller, targeted care pathways can improve PAD outcomes faster than waiting for patients to find specialty care on their own.