From the NLA President: My First Six Months

It has been a busy—and rewarding—six months since I took over as President of the NLA. It is extremely gratifying to see so many projects that were discussed in the Board’s Strategic Plan taking shape.

In our efforts to streamline processes and refine our organizational structure, we created three Councils, each managed by a Board officer. Every Council has a number of Committees that fall under it, and the Committee Chairs now have a better process for funneling ideas and initiatives up to the Council Chair, where it is heard directly by a Board officer.

In the education arena I have several improvements and accomplishments to share with you. First, we have adopted a core curriculum for education that reflects initiatives across the entire NLA. The NLA's Core Curriculum in Clinical Lipidology serves as a guide for development of educational activities tailored to health care professionals at all stages of their careers. The NLA Self- Assessment Programs have been completely revised and updated as of September. Revising the SAP was a very time-consuming task, and I want to thank Dr. Carl Orringer for leading that effort. With the help of Associate Editors, Dr. Terry Jacobson, Dr. James Underberg, Dr. Vera Bittner, and Dr. Eliot Brinton, the new edition of the NLA-SAP is the most comprehensive training tool to date. We had a very successful Clinical Lipid Update in Baltimore, MD hosted by the Northeast and Southeast regional chapters. The conference, Clinical Tools for the Practicing Lipidologist: Recent Advances in Genetics, Lifestyle and Pharmacy, was attended by approximately 220 people. The Spring Clinical Lipid Update (March 13-16 in Maui, HI) is in its final planning stages and is looking to be the best international meeting the NLA has ever hosted. And, of course, the Annual Scientific Sessions are approaching quickly. The 2014 Sessions will be held May 1-4 in Orlando, FL with a focus on familial hypercholesterolemia (FH).

The NLA has taken a very proactive role in offering guidance and recommendations for recently released guidelines. The International Atherosclerosis Society (IAS) released guidelines on The Global Management of Dyslipidemia, which were endorsed by the NLA. In addition, the NLA is actively involved in collaborating with the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) on improvements to the recently released 2013 Blood Cholesterol Guideline. While the NLA did not endorse this new Guideline, we are hopeful that we can provide positive input and recommendations as the ACC and AHA continue to revise and modify the Guideline. After careful review, the NLA did endorse three Guidelines released by the ACC/AHA: Management of Overweight and Obese Adults; Lifestyle Management to Reduce Cardiovascular Risk; and Assessment of Cardiovascular Risk. Links to all of these Guidelines can be found at www.lipid.org.

As you will read in the Foundation of the NLA Update, in mid-September several NLA members attended the FH Summit in Annapolis, MD hosted by the FH Foundation. At the Summit, the FH Foundation announced the launch of its FH patient registry, and I was honored to be a guest speaker at the opening session to share my personal experience with FH and a call to action for more research in non-invasive assessment of subclinical atherosclerosis in asymptomatic patients with FH.

Dr. Anne Goldberg and I were invited to attend the LDL: Address the Risk Think Tank organized by the ACC. Representatives from medical specialty societies and other stakeholder groups were invited for an interactive discussion about:

1. Guidelines: What is their treatment target, how were they developed, and what will be their role in the future?
2. Gaps in Care: How do they occur?
3. Special Populations: What are the issues?

It was insightful meeting and will be used by the ACC moving forward on development of practical guidance for lipid management. I value your input and participation both at the national and regional level.

I hope to see you at one of our upcoming meetings. I wish you and your families a Happy New Year.