A Message from the President of the Northeast Lipid Association

Dear Northeast Lipid Association (NELA) Members:

On behalf of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of NELA, I am pleased to welcome you to our website. I sincerely hope you will visit often and take advantage of the wonderful opportunities to learn about the latest information in Clinical Lipidology and interact with colleagues.

I am truly honored to serve as the seventh President of NELA and wish to thank my predecessors Drs. Perry Weinstock, David Capuzzi, John Kostis, Penny Kris-Etherton, Donald Smith, and Thomas Tulenko for leading so capably. It seems like just yesterday when Dr. Capuzzi asked many of us to form NELA. It was wonderful to see him honored for his role in establishing the Northeast Chapter at the Annual Scientific Session in Las Vegas.

Our year will get off to a great start with the responsibility of hosting the next issue of Lipid Spin. Many of you will be asked to contribute, and as the plans crystallize, stay tuned for more information. I have asked Dr. Edward Goldenberg to lead this effort.

In early September we will be hosting a booth as part of a health fair at the NY Yankee Fan Fest on Saturday, Sept. 7 on the Intrepid Air and Space Museum. This will be jointly supported by NELA and the NLA Foundation, focusing on cholesterol screening, Familial Hypercholesterolemia awareness and promoting the NLA. I hope many of you will consider volunteering at this fun event.

September 20-22 we will co-host the Fall Clinical Lipid Update in Baltimore with the Southeast Lipid Association. This meeting promises to be a great mix of science and practical take-home messages for the clinical lipidologist. Please consider attending, and bringing your team, trainees and colleagues. The program for this meeting is now available.

My goal as NELA President this year is to foster and continue to grow the agenda of my predecessor, Dr. Weinstock. I believe that more face-to-face encounters between members is key to our organization. I am going to try to attend meetings in various cities in our region over the next year. If you have ideas for local events such as the NY Yankee Fan Fest, please let me or any of our board members know as soon as possible. Involvement in NELA activities is key to our continued growth. We will be establishing committees within NELA, the first being a membership committee. Volunteers are welcome.

Finally, I would like to thank my officers, Dr. Linda Hemphill, Joyce Ross and Dr. Dean Karalis and our immediate past President, Dr. Perry Weinstock, for their input and support this year. Please reach out to them, as I look to their leadership regionally. This promises to be an exciting year for NELA. Thank you for your continued support and involvement.
 

James A. Underberg, MD, FNLA
New York, NY