Limited to original work presented by residents in cardiothoracic surgery and/or residents in general surgical training programs who are working in a cardiothoracic surgical laboratory or clinical rotation in North America.This forum is designed primarily for abstracts concerning basic science and laboratory animal experiments or translational research performed on tissue or blood obtained from patients. Training program directors are urged to have residents participate in the forum and must acknowledge that the material being presented is original work and that of the resident. Authors of selected abstracts should plan to submit a manuscript four weeks prior to the meeting. Finalists will be graded on their abstracts and presentations onsite at the Annual Meeting. One presentation will be selected to receive an award of $5,000.