Foundation Update

The Foundation of the National Lipid Association is proud to announce that the 2015 Scientific Sessions this past June in Chicago was an enormous success. The Foundation event, “Lipidpalooza,” was held at the House of Blues and featured the Foundation’s own Dr. Alan Brown and his band “This End Up.” The turnout was great, and everyone had a wonderful time.

The Foundation sponsored a special abstract award at the Scientific Sessions in honor of Donald B. Hunninghake, MD, a pioneer in lipid research. The first Foundation of the National Lipid Association Donald Hunninghake Familial Hypercholesterolemia Abstract Award was presented to Amy Peterson, MD, for her abstract titled, “Universal vs Selective Pediatric Lipid Screening in the Diagnosis of Familial Hypercholesterolemia.” The Foundation is looking forward to seeing more research in this vital area of lipidology in the coming years.

The Foundation is continuing its mission to support patient education as it pertains to cardiovascular event reduction. Most recently, the Foundation collaborated with Sanofi US, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Cohn & Wolfe in their launching of an unbranded cholesterol awareness campaign, “Cholesterol Counts.” Cohn & Wolfe provided the Foundation with 500 webkeys, and an attached post-card providing an overview of the campaign and instructions to access the poll, which were distributed to attendees of the NLA’s 2015 Scientific Sessions. The work surrounding Cholesterol Counts was submitted for a Wire and Plastic Products research award.

The Foundation is also playing a valuable role in National Cholesterol Education Month this September. With the help of the NLA Communications Team, the Foundation aims to increase awareness of the importance of cholesterol management through outreach campaigns focused on nutrition and an active lifestyle. This will include a month-long social media campaign offering healthy tips, recipes, and motivational guidance for every day of the week. Sanofi US and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. will host a Twitter chat in late September to generate robust discussion surrounding cholesterol and heart-health. In addition, the NLA and the Foundation will be co-hosting its own Twitter chat geared toward National Cholesterol Education Month. The event will take place in late September and will last for one hour. Members are encouraged to participate and spread the word. Patient tear sheets that focus on lifestyle changes were created by the Nutrition Task Force. You can see these tear sheets beginning on page 39 of this LipidSpin.

On behalf of the Foundation Board of Directors, we thank you for your continued support of the Foundation and look forward to what’s to come!