Dr. Vera Bittner Assumes Leadership of SELA

For Immediate Release

For additional information contact:
Director of Communications
6816 Southpoint Parkway, Suite 1000
Jacksonville, FL 32216
PH: 904- 998-0854
FAX: 904-998-0855

September 4, 2003

The Southeast Lipid Association (SELA) is pleased to announce the election of Vera Bittner, MD, MSPH as President of the Association. Dr. Bittner received her Medical Degree from the University of South Alabama, College of Medicine and her Masters Degree in Epidemiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Public Health. She trained in Internal Medicine at Wake Forest University Medical Center and in Cardiovascular Disease at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Dr. Bittner has been on the faculty at the University of Alabama at Birmingham since 1987 and is currently Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Disease with a secondary appointment as Professor in the School of Nursing and affiliation with the UAB Center for Health Promotion. She directs the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program at University Hospital and is Director of the Cardiovascular Disease Residency Program. She is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. Her primary research interests are in preventive cardiology with particular emphasis on diagnosis and treatment of dyslipidemia, cardiac rehabilitation, and coronary heart disease in women.

The Southeast Lipid Association is the nation's only professional association that features a multidisciplinary approach to the study and treatment of coronary heart disease. Its members include physicians, pharmacists, nurses and certified diabetes educators.