Building a Healthier World, Free of Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke

Abstract

This week, thousands of healthcare providers and scientists from throughout North America and from >70 countries have come to this conference. We are here in New Orleans, a city that was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. This community is still recovering and rebuilding. By attending this meeting, we are providing support for the people of New Orleans and helping the city flourish again. We are also here today at an exciting moment of transformation in the United States. Just 5 days ago, we elected a new president, and our nation’s mood is one of hope and expectation. Many believe that this change in our nation’s leadership marks a new era of opportunity. Like New Orleans, the United States was stricken by an almost unfathomable assault and disaster early in this new century. Our nation has struggled to understand that disaster. Some of our responses have been unsettling, both to us and to many of our friends. But we are now looking to the future with new confidence. In this moment of opportunity and renewed hope, let us remind ourselves that all of us here today, as well as our colleagues in the healthcare professions, are de facto leaders in our communities by virtue of our education and our professional responsibilities for others. In addition to our individual roles in clinical medicine, research, and many related fields, we are also citizen leaders in our societies. “To whom much is given, much is required” certainly applies to us. And this is what I would like to talk to you about today. I want us to acknowledge our shared mission as citizen leaders and challenge ourselves to consider the implications of this rallying cry, which is just a nuance away from the American Heart Association’s newly defined mission statement: “Building healthier lives, …