Letter from the NLA President: Exciting Year Ahead!

Hello fellow NLA members, Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a restful and happy holiday season. I look forward to celebrating the many incredible projects the NLA is executing in 2023, one being this SWLA/PLA LipidSpin. I hope you walk away after reading this with inspiration in your heart and new, helpful lipid science in your pocket. The NLA has gained traction and made immense impact over its short 20-year existence, but there is always more to be learned, explored, and applied to improve people’s health.

We all know the statistics. The odds for our neighbors, friends, and families, but what are we as the NLA going to do about it? In the area of education, underway now is the Pentathlon Challenge (January-May): a series of riveting CME accredited, free, online educational activities that will give individuals and the NLA chapters opportunity to compete and celebrate those who have learned the most. Who doesn’t love some friendly competition?

The NLA continues to move the space forward through publications and advocacy. This spring, the NLA will publish a Clinical Perspective close to my heart titled Nutrition Interventions for the Management of Dyslipidemia in Adults, which will be a helpful companion to Nutrition Interventions for Youth with Dyslipidemia, which was published in 2022.

We also are continuing our efforts toward the restoration of helpful LDL quality measures, including our multisociety effort, co-chaired with the National Forum for Heart Disease & Stroke Prevention, and another Clinical Perspective titled The Importance of Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Measurement and Control as Performance Measures in collaboration with the American Society for Preventive Cardiology. 

Other projects in progress include piloting of the Teach ASCVD project, supporting the initiatives of the Foundation, and much more. I am grateful to be serving the NLA as its President, and I am thankful for the many deep connections I have with you, the NLA members. I look forward to seeing you at the Annual Scientific Sessions in Atlanta, Georgia, June 1 - 4 where victors of the Pentathlon Challenge will be crowned!