SWLA Chapter Update: Hard Work Pays Off!

The Southwest Lipid Association (SWLA) would like to thank all the contributing authors and editors for another edition of LipidSpin. Most importantly, SWLA and its board would like to thank all NLA members for their contributions, pushing boundaries, promoting healthier communities, and fostering greater awareness of Clinical Lipidology. 

As the world continues to move forward from the restraints and restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic, we find tremendous inspiration from all that the NLA and its members have accomplished this past year. 

In June of 2022, SWLA successfully hosted a vibrant and productive Annual Scientific Session in Scottsdale, Arizona, featuring renewed attention on primordial prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), the emergence of new non-statin therapies for the treatment of dyslipidemia, and a lively debate regarding apolipoprotein B (Apo B) as an emerging risk factor of ASCVD. As we seek to carry forward the success of this Scientific Session from June 2022, SWLA looks forward to hosting the Fall Clinical Update, in Scottsdale, Arizona, September 9-11 of 2023.

Meanwhile, it has been a productive year for many SWLA members! I would like to highlight some of their accomplishments, clinical endeavors, and examples of community outreach.

As a pediatric endocrinologist at Ochsner Hospital for Children in New Orleans, Louisiana, Carmen Mironovici, MD, PhD, is the only specialist who evaluates and treats kids with dyslipidemias in the entire state of Louisiana. Keep up the excellent work! In Texas, Anandita Agarwala Kulkarni, MD, of Baylor Scott & White The Heart Group, has had a productive year with numerous publications including articles featured in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology, JAMA Cardiology, and Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases. 

In October 2022, Chima Nwizu, MD, of the Center for Weight and Cholesterol Management in Greeley, Colorado, was awarded Fellow of Obesity Medicine Association. Congratulations! 

Meanwhile, Susan Dimick, MD, of the Central Oklahoma Early Detection Center, hosts a regular lipid journal club. Over the past 10 years, the journal club has grown to include more than 30 physicians and healthcare providers. These informative discussions have been a wonderful resource used to educate healthcare providers in the Central Oklahoma community.

In the sunny state of Arizona, Ann Skulas-Ray, PhD, of the University of Arizona Food Bioactives and Health Lab and Nicole Ciffone, BSN, ANP-C, CLS, of the Arizona Lipid Center have partnered to create the Partnership for Optimizing and Wellness and Empowering Research (POWER). Collectively, they continue to promote cardiovascular health and wellness. Susan Halli Demeter, DNP, FNP-BC, was recognized as the Distinguished Allied Health Educator of the Year (DAHEY) at Mayo Clinic Arizona. She is also President-Elect of the Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association and President of their Annual Symposium in April 2023. 

In April 2023, Regis Fernandes, MD, and myself look froward to presenting clinical research on cardiometabolic risk factors in young patients diagnosed with myocardial infarction at the Congress of the European Association of Preventive Cardiology in Malaga, Spain. Additionally, I, will be presenting at the White Coat Investor’s Physician Wellness and Financial Literacy Conference in March 2023. My presentation is titled: Food, Nutrition, Controversy and Confusion: An Evidence-based Discussion of the Most Important Investment in Your Life. Meanwhile, Kris Vijay, MD, continues to push boundaries within local and international communities in his role as president of TWINEPIDEMIC, Inc., a nonprofit organization addressing Diabetes and Heart disease among all over the world. TWINEPIDEMIC Inc. actively performs community screenings and preventive education programs domestically and internationally, including Hispanic and Indo-American communities within the Phoenix area. 

SWLA looks forward to hosting the Fall Clinical Update in Scottsdale, Arizona, in September of 2023! I hope to see you there!