Chinese American Heart Association

Joint CnAHA/ACRE Conference Held in New Orleans during ACC: State of the Organizations and Future Initiatives
The Chinese American Heart Association (CnAHA) and the Academy of Cardiovascular Research Excellence (ACRE) held a joint meeting on March 25^th, 2007 in New Orleans, Louisiana during the 56^th Annual Scientific Sessions of the American College of Cardiology.
Drs. Leng Jiang, MD, President of CnAHA, from Tufts University, Boston, MA and Yong-Jian Geng, MD, PhD, Board of Directors of ACRE, from University of Texas Houston and Texas Heart Institute, Houston, Texas, chaired the meeting and updated the participants about the CnAHA and ACRE. Dr. Jiang also introduced the new Board Members of CnAHA and updated on the upcoming activities.
The Keynote speech “Advances in the Lipid Management for Coronary Artery Disease” was given by Dr. Ernst Schaefer, a preeminent clinician scientist from Tufts University. The speech generated heated discussion particularly in the differences of practice between US and Chinese physicians in the treatment of hyperlipidemia.
A panel of prominent cardiovascular clinicians and scientists from China were invited to the meeting, including Drs. Dayi Hu, MD, President of CCCP (Chinese College of Cardiovascular Physicians) from Beijing, Haozhu Chen, MD,

Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering and Director of Shanghai Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Yun Zhang, MD, PhD, Vice President of Shandong University and Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Junbo Ge, MD, Associate Director of Shanghai Cardiovascular Institute, and President of Shanghai Society of Cardiology who participated in a roundtable discussion, congratulated the joint meeting and discussed the potential future exchange between the cardiovascular professionals in the US with Chinese origin and mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Dr. Chen wrote a magnificent poem for the meeting, which will be posted in the CnAHA and ACRE website to share with our members, colleagues and friends. They also had an opportunity to meet their old friends, such as Drs. Jingping Sun, MD and Xingsheng Yang, MD, who used to be renowned cardiologists in China and currently senior research scientists at Emory University in Atalanta, Georgia.
Drs. Yongjian Geng and Shuping Ge, MD, Vice President of CnAHA, from Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital and Texas Heart Institute, Houston, Texas, led a discussion of “Career Development in the US for Clinicians and Researchers”, which addressed some of the questions and dilemmas from the trainees, postdoctoral research and clinical fellows, and junior faculty. The participants felt “This is a much needed and very practical forum to help the trainees and junior faculty to understand different career pathways in clinical medicine and research and to assist them in choosing the path that suits them the best in the US”.
We would also like to acknowledge other organizers of the conference for their enthusiasm and dedication to the meeting, including Dr. Dali Fan, MD, Membership Coordinator of CnAHA from North Shore Medical Center, New York, and Grace Palma, MBA, Business Manager of CnAHA, from Philips Medical Systems, Boston, MA, whose huge efforts have made this meeting possible and a overwhelming success.
The meeting was kindly supported by an educational grant from AstraZeneca. We anticipate the next joint CnAHA/ACRE meeting to be held during the annual scientific sessions of the American Heart Association. We look forward to seeing you in Orlando, Florida in November, 2007.