Editor's Corner Looking Back and Thinking Forward

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change, that lives within the means available, and works cooperatively against common threats”.  - Charles Erasmus Darwin

It is always my pleasure to bring the Editor’s Corner to the readership of the LipidSpin and weave together some comments and thoughts about our “about to be published” journal. Lynne Braun and I as the co-editors jointly share this responsibility on a rotating basis. 

The NLA, as an organization, is examining our current place in the healthcare community, evaluating and re-evaluating our history, and seeking to understand the post-COVID world of clinical care in order to remain thoughtfully relevant and contemporary. 

In reflecting on the content for this edition, I would like to firstly thank the authors, and the MWLA chapter president, Noreen Nazir, MD, for their diligent and thoughtful contributions.

In our Practical Pearls section, which is typically focused on “how I do it in my practice” – we intentionally asked the authors to broaden that scope to “how the NLA does it in the community”.

As a result, this article gives us 3 categories of review—

• History
• Impact and Influence
• Remaining Relevant

All our content in this edition supports one or more aspects of this framework. First, those passionately motivated individuals who historically created the NLA did so to innovatively meet a need – recognizing the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and providing a directed, intentional means by which we may mitigate the risk for disease progression. Now, as we see in the Guest Editorial, we have seen success but also recognize that trends in CVD mortality have plateaued and are increasing, therefore more prevention strategies are needed.

Our impact is demonstrated by recognition of research on science identified to be pivotal in ASCVD, such as the significance of Lp(a), FH as a pediatric disease and one that requires a multidisciplinary approach and diversifying ourselves to address areas of greatest need in the lipid community. We remain relevant by intentionally responding to the expanding spectrum of risk factors in our contemporary culture, such as obesity and metabolic disease, and adapting our scope to continue developing high-caliber lipid-focused education, which includes this knowledge base. 

As Darwin also said, “I am not apt to follow blindly the lead of other men.” We are fortunate in this organization to have leaders and members who are creative, thoughtful, and visionary. As always, I consider it a privilege to be part of the NLA as we continue to grow and mature.