2026 #NLASessions Faculty
Scientific Sessions Program Chairs

Dinesh Kalra, MD, MBA, FNLA
President-Elect, National Lipid Association
Professor and Chief of Cardiology
Director of Lipid Clinic and Advanced Cardiac Imaging
University of Louisville
Louisville, KY

Kaye-Eileen Willard, MD, FNLA
President, National Lipid Association
Medical Director Lipid Clinic
Physician Advisor, Ascension SE Wisconsin
Chief of Staff Ascension All Saints
Chair Joint Chiefs of Staff Ascension SE Wisconsin
Racine, WI
Scientific Sessions Planners
Christie M. Ballantyne, MD, FNLA
Immediate Past President, National Lipid Association
Chief, Section of Cardiovascular Research
Director, Center for Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention
Professor of Medicine, Molecular and Human Genetics, and Integrative Physiology
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX
James A. Underberg, MD, MS, MNLA
Past-President, National Lipid Association
Past-President, American Board of Clinical Lipidology
President, Foundation of the National Lipid Association
Lipidology & Cardiovascular Disease Prevention
Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine
NYU Medical School & NYU Center for CV Prevention
Director, Bellevue Hospital Lipid Clinic
New York, NY
Scientific Sessions Faculty

Zahid Ahmad, MD, FNLA
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine
Lipid Section, Division of Endocrinology
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, TX

Preneet Cheema Brar, MD, MS
Chief, Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes
Director, Pediatric Diabetes Program
Director, Pediatric Lipid Clinic
New York Grossman Long Island School of Medicine
New York, NY

Dinesh Kalra, MD, MBA, FNLA
President-Elect, National Lipid Association
Professor and Chief of Cardiology
Director of Lipid Clinic and Advanced Cardiac Imaging
University of Louisville
Louisville, KY

Nicholas A. Marston, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Investigator, TIMI Study Group
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA

Katsuyuki Nakajima, PhD
Professor, Nutrition Clinic
Institute of Nutrition Science
Kagawa Nutrition University
Takamatsu, Japan
Scientist, Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine
Gunma University, Graduate School of Medicine
Maebashi, Japan

Børge G. Nordestgaard, MD, DMSc
President, European Atherosclerosis Society
Professor and Chief Physician
Copenhagen University Hospital
University of Copenhagen

Prof Kausik Ray MD, FMedSci
Immediate Past President, European Atherosclerosis Society
Professor of Public Health
Imperial College London
London, England

Michelle Routhenstein, MS, RD, CDCES, CDN
Cardiology Dietitian
Preventive Cardiology Nutritionist
Owner of Entirely Nourished, LLC
New York, NY

Ernst J. Schaefer, MD, FNLA
Chief Medical Officer and Laboratory Director
Boston Heart Diagnostics
Framingham, MA
Dr. Schaefer's presentation is informed by his extensive history of service within the NLA. While this lecture is educational, it is presented from the perspective of a long-time member of the NLA whose opinion does not necessarily represent the opinions or policies of the NLA's Board of Directors.

Michael D. Shapiro, DO, MCR
Fred M. Parrish Professor of Cardiology and Molecular Medicine
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine
Wake Forest University
Winston Salem, NC

Vinaya Simha, MD
Associate Professor, Division of Endocrinology
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, MN

Jeanie B. Tryggestad, MD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Diabetes/Endocrinology
CHF Paul and Ruth Jonas Chair in Pediatric Diabetes/Endocrinology
Oklahoma City, OK

William Weintraub, MD
Emeritus Director, Population Health Research
MedStar Health Research Institute
Professor of Medicine
Georgetown University
Washington, DC

Kaye-Eileen Willard, MD, FNLA
President, National Lipid Association
Medical Director Lipid Clinic
Physician Advisor, Ascension SE Wisconsin
Chief of Staff Ascension All Saints
Chair Joint Chiefs of Staff Ascension SE Wisconsin
Racine, WI

Justin Zachariah, MD, MPH
Associate Professor, Pediatric Cardiology
Baylor College of Medicine
Staff Cardiologist, Director of Cardiology Research, and Co-Chair of Research Operations
Texas Children’s Hospital Heart Center
Houston, TX










