MWLA Chapter Update: Our Small Steps towards Big Goals

The Midwest Lipid Association (MWLA) would like to congratulate and express deep appreciation to all authors and co-editors, Drs. Willard and Braun, who are MWLA Board members, for the enlightening Summer Edition of LipidSpin with emphasis on “NLA impact on the Health Community”. 

We thank all MWLA Chapter members for their continued efforts to improve patient care across different practice settings while involving providers of different backgrounds, their contributions to research in the field of lipidology, and their mentorship for trainees and early career medical professionals. Below, I spotlighted a few of the numerous accomplishments by our MWLA members over the last year.

MWLA is proud to continue hosting our quarterly joint Illinois/Wisconsin journal club/lipid forum with core faculty Dr. Alan Brown, Dr. Michael Davidson, Dr. Kaye-Eileen Willard, Dr. David Davidson and myself. The hybrid option of these meetings allows us to connect across the states while those who reside in Chicago area can attend in-person. Lipid forum is an outstanding opportunity to discuss challenging cases and implementation of novel lipid lowering therapies and great for networking with colleagues. Our most recent meeting was on May 3rd, 2023. 

Dr. Noreen Nazir, myself, and Dr. Dinesh Kalra enjoyed participating as panelists and/or moderators in the well-liked Lipid Panel series launched by NLA in 2022. 

We thank Dr. David Neff for his contribution as a co-author of the NLA’s Clinical Perspective, The importance of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol measurement and control as performance measures: A joint Clinical Perspective from the National Lipid Association and the American Society for Preventive Cardiology. 

Congratulations to Dr. Marlys Koschinsky on becoming a Fellow of American College of Cardiology. Dr. Koschinsky was also recognized by Canadian Institutes for Health Research for Circulatory and Respiratory Health and received distinguished lecturer award in Blood and Blood Vessel Sciences for outstanding contribution to the advancement of blood and/or blood vessel sciences in Canada and internationally. In 2022 Dr. Koschinsky presented at Canadian Lipid and Vascular Summit as a Jean Davignon distinguished scientist lecturer.

We are thrilled to learn that Dr. Scott H. Merryman was named a System Medical Director for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Lipid Clinics for OhioHealth in 2022. Dr. Merryman and his clinical staff, including Sherri Sprang and Trina Langdon, successfully launched and have been actively involved in the Family Heart Foundation quality improvement project Find FH, an effort to find undiagnosed and/or undertreated FH patients, making OhioHealth one of the most active sites nationally! Dr. Merryman and his OhioHealth Lipid Clinic colleagues, who are also Lipid specialists and active NLA members, Dr. Kavita Sharma, Dr. Meg Morrison, and Dr. John Hatanelas are participating in two clinical trials: Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-Controlled, Phase 3 Study of Olezarsen (IONIS PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. ISIS 678354) in Patients with Hypertriglyceridemia and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease , or with Severe Hypertriglyceridemia and A Double-blind, Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Multicenter Study Assessing the Impact of Olpasiran (AMGEN  - 20180244) on Major Cardiovascular Events in Patients with Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease and Elevated Lp(a).

Kudos to Dr. David Davidson for taking a new role as a cardiac genetic ambassador on top of leading the Lipid and Medical Weight Loss programs at NorthShore Hospital in Chicago. His site is participating in multiple clinical trials, including SELECT - Semaglutide Effects on Cardiovascular Outcomes in People With Overweight or Obesity; VICTORION- INCEPTION – a Randomized, Controlled, Multicenter, Open-label Trial Comparing a Hospital Post-discharge Care Pathway Involving Aggressive LDL-C Management That Includes Inclisiran With Usual Care Versus Usual Care Alone in Patients With a Recent Acute Coronary Syndrome; and Open-Label Extension Phase 3 Study to Evaluate the Long-Term Efficacy and Safety of LIB003 in Patients With HoFH and HeFH, CVD, or at High Risk for CVD, on Stable Lipid-Lowering Therapy Requiring Additional LDL-C Reduction. 

We hope everyone enjoyed the highly anticipated 2023 NLA scientific session in Atlanta, Georgia, June 1-4. Having the sustained theme of the “Pentathlon Challenge” really brought everyone together!

Our own Dr. Alan Brown spoke at the NLA Opening Session on Lipoprotein (a) trials, and hosted the Family Feud event, where the SWLA chapter, winner of the Pentathlon Challenge, competed against the Past Presidents for lipid glory! Dr. Chad Morreale presented a jointly sponsored session with NLA and ACC in Atlanta titled, “Cardiometabolic Disease Patient – How do I Approach Residual Risk?” We loved having great MWLA representation at the meeting!

We are looking forward to seeing all of you in Scottsdale, Arizona, September 9-11 for the Fall CLU! Until then, have a fantastic summer!