From the NLA President: Lessons for a Lifetime

It really is fascinating how fast time flies because it seems like just yesterday I was taking the reins from Joyce Ross, MSN, CRNP, FNLA and beginning my term as National Lipid Association President. And here I am now about to wish Alan Brown, MD, FNLA the very best as he begins his term.

As I reflect on my time as President, I first want to thank my tremendous Executive Committee colleagues — Alan Brown MD, FNLA; Antonio Gotto, MD, DPhil, FNLA; Joyce Ross, MSN, CRNP, FNLA; Dean Bramlet, MD, FNLA; Elizabeth Jackson, CNS, FNLA and Joseph Saseen, PharmD, FNLA – the Board of Directors and NLA Executive Director Brian Hart, JD and his wonderful staff. Through the hard work of our leadership and committees, we have continued to take the NLA to new heights.

When I began my term in May 2017, I thought I knew a lot about the inner workings of the NLA and what needed to be done to move our organization’s needle. However, it became apparent there was a learning curve between how much I actually knew and how much there was to know. Along the way, I learned that while our organization is still young, we continue to grow by leaps and bounds. 

As we stay on that growth trajectory, what will be our key points of focus? The NLA was built on science, and we must strive to be an authoritative voice when it comes to key subject matter pertaining to our medical specialty. We created the Scientific Statements Committee for the management of statements that are to be drafted by the NLA. This important committee is charged with selecting topics through a proposal process, define and maintain a document development process, select experts on the subject matter to serve as steering committee members and authors, coordinate peer and NLA Board review and approval process and coordinate document publication with the Journal of Clinical Lipidology.

Over the past year, I have learned we must cultivate diversity among our membership and leadership. Our Women In Lipidology work group, led by Joyce Ross, MSN, CRNP, FNLA; Anne Goldberg, MD, FNLA; Roda Plakogiannis, PharmD, FNLA; and Carol Kirkpatrick, PhD, RDN, MPH, FNLA, was launched with this in mind and continues to focus on opportunities for the NLA to recognize, recruit, advocate and foster the development of future female leaders in lipidology. 

We should also sustain and grow collaborative relationships with organizations such as the Association of Black Cardiologists and the National Hispanic Medical Association in addition to reaching out to program chairs at Medical, PharmD, Nursing and Dietitian programs.

We must also deliver relevant, cutting-edge education to our membership, which is the primary focus of the newly formed Core Curriculum Committee, chaired by Chief Science Officer Peter H. Jones, MD, FNLA. In addition, we must emphasize the importance of scientific excellence by continuing to highlight programs such as the Junior Faculty Research Award, Young Investigator Award and our scientific poster presentations and oral abstracts. We have also made our scientific meetings process more inclusive for all members by enhancing our program proposal process. NLA members can now submit their session ideas online at lipid.org/proposal for consideration by the Scientific Meetings Committee.

To further bolster our scientific meeting content, the Genetics Workgroup and Cardiometabolic Workgroups were formed to propose topics and speakers for meetings, raise awareness among the membership and potential NLA members about the section, participate in the update to the NLA’s core curriculum and update the organization on new therapies and disease states.

I was pleased to see this year our Honors & Awards Committee took a proactive approach. Their efforts helped add 18 new Fellows of the NLA and enhanced the identification process for other NLA awards. I hope to see this continue to mature.

Perhaps most important, we need all our members and leaders to continue to “wave the NLA flag,” meaning we need you to proudly share that you are an NLA member at every opportunity, whether it is in an interview with the media, on your social media account or biographical webpage or in a conversation with colleagues. And if you are not yet active on social media, I strongly encourage you to join the conversation to help promote the NLA’s mission, which is to enhance the practice of lipid management in clinical medicine. I know I will do all I can in this regard in 2018-19 as the incoming Communications Council Chair. As chair, I will focus much of my energy on building quality relationships with media and increasing the NLA’s public awareness.

Thank you for the honor of serving as your President. I truly believe the best is yet to come.