From the NLA President: State of the NLA Address

With spring time comes the NLA Annual Sessions and the beginning of a new term for officers and board members. I could not be more excited to serve as president for 2017-2018, and do so with a strong group of dedicated leaders that make the job both productive and enjoyable.

What better way to start than on the heels of the Philadelphia meeting. We hosted members and guest from all corners of the world, with speakers traveling from as far as Australia and China. Others were able to bicycle from home just a few blocks away. This annual meeting was one of the largest to date and was filled with new ideas and concepts. We began the meeting with a new “town hall style” and revisited the past in drug development to better understand the present and future of lipid lowering therapies. We debuted a digital poster hall for the very first time and celebrated the first Virgil Brown Awardee Lecture. There was a wonderful session on social media and publishing, along with great new information on clinical trial recruitment. We presented our Part 2 PCSK9 inhibitor recommendation update and unveiled new “Ted-Talk” like formats with engaging dialogue and commentary.

As we move into the coming year there are several agenda items worth mentioning that will help shape our direction for the future. One of the first is engaging the NLA Past Presidents Council and utilizing their council and advice during my term as President. It is important that we keep our institutional history in our recent memory and utilize these leaders as we move forward.

Another area of importance is recognizing the women leaders in the NLA through the creation of a “Women in Lipidology” working group led by several of our past presidents and current board members. This group will focus on opportunities for the NLA to recognize, recruit, advocate and foster the development of future female leaders in lipidology. The NLA is also creating a working group for the ever-expanding field of genetics to keep the NLA relevant and on top of new genetic developments in lipidology. The genetics working group will be chaired by Nathan O. Stitziel, MD, PhD and Amy Strum, MS, LGC. In addition I am happy to report that Drs. Paul Rosenblit and Christie Ballantyne have agreed to co-chair a working group on cardiometablic risk.

Clinical lipidology is a rapidly growing field with exciting new developments constantly being discovered. As a leading source in providing recommendations and statements on clinical lipidology, the NLA will soon be creating a new Scientific Statement/Recommendations Committee to address this need. The Committee will evaluate when the NLA needs to make a position statement or provide treatment recommendations on new areas in the field.

The recognition of being a Fellow of the NLA and the credential of “FNLA” is an important achievement to encourage a healthy flow of new involved leaders. The Honors and Awards committee, along with the NLA chapters, will be actively working to identify the future leaders of the NLA and facilitate their growth and involvement. We are always looking for new people to rise through the NLA, so I challenge anyone interested to join a committee or get involved with your chapter.

The NLA will be incredibly active in 2017-18 with meetings in Indianapolis, San Antonio, Las Vegas and Miami. I look forward to seeing many of you in person and hope to continue to advance our agenda and programs in the upcoming year.