Foundation Update

The Foundation of the NLA constantly strives to support research, medical education and community outreach activities, particularly those that fall within our primary areas of focus for grant funding: children, genetic disorders, Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH), primordial prevention, and underserved populations.

Collaborations between the Foundation and the NLA have resulted in many "firsts," including the launch of our inaugural FH awareness campaign in May 2011. The Foundation's commitment to diagnosing and treating this genetic disease encourages us to continue moving forward. Our patients require more than the expertise and therapy we provide—they seek to understand their condition and how it impacts their loved ones.

We are committed to taking the time necessary to reach out and inform patients about this inherited yet treatable condition, because we believe that healing begins with understanding.

With this in mind, we are cultivating a grassroots outreach effort about FH awareness in observance of National Cholesterol Education Month this September. In particular, National FH Awareness Day is September 20, and we hope our outreach activities will encourage individuals to sign up for the FH registry (thefhfoundation.org/register/the-fhregistry) organized by the FH Foundation.

Please watch your mail in September for FH awareness materials and invite your colleagues and patients to learn more about this underdiagnosed condition. Awareness saves lives, and it could be their own.

In other areas, I am pleased to report the following:

• Lifetime Membership has done amazingly well, with more than $100,000 set aside for future lipidology training. One of our goals is to have 100% participation from the NLA and FNLA boards (we have 33 board members so far). To show your support, please go to lipid.org/membership/lifemember by December 31;
• An update to the FH Pocket Guide was released at the Annual Scientific Sessions in May (guidelinecentral.com/medical-society/national-lipid-association); and
• Our next Foundation fundraiser, the delectable Fell’s Point Food Tour, will take place on Saturday, September 21, in conjunction with our Fall Clinical Lipid Update in Baltimore. Join us for this guided, narrated walking tour of Fell’s Point and learn about the historic, cultural and architectural significance of the area. We’ll meet in the hotel lobby promptly at 6:30 p.m. for a short walk to the water taxi, which we will take across the harbor to Fell’s Point. Cost is $75 per person, and all proceeds will benefit the Foundation. To register, please go to lipid.org/fallclu and click on the “Register” tab.