Pioneer in Prevention Award

History of the Award:

Previously named the Leaders in Medicine Award, the Pioneer in Prevention Award is bestowed on individuals who have profoundly impacted cardiovascular disease prevention by taking the field in a whole new direction.

2023 Pioneer in Prevention Award Recipient

Larry Sperling, MD, FACC, FAHA, FACP, FASPC

Katz Professor in Preventive Cardiology
Founder, The Heart Disease Prevention Center
Emory University School of Medicine

Laurence S. Sperling, M.D., FACC, FAHA, FACP, FASPC is the Founder and was the Director of The Heart Disease Prevention Center at Emory (1997-2019).  He is currently the Katz Professor in Preventive Cardiology at the Emory University School of Medicine, and Professor of Global Health in the Rollins School of Public Health. Dr. Sperling is the current Executive Director of Million Hearts for the Division of Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He served as the President of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology from 2014-2016, served on the writing committee of 2018 the ACC/ AHA Guideline on the Management on Blood Cholesterol, and serves as Associate Editor for the American Journal of Preventive Cardiology, and the Chair of the World Heart Federation writing group on the Roadmap for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention among People Living with Diabetes.

Dr. Sperling founded (in 2004) and directs the first and only LDL apheresis program in the state of Georgia, and was the PI for The National FH Registry site at Emory. He has received awards for excellence in both teaching (including 4 Apple Awards and The Dean’s Teaching Award) and mentorship (Emory SOM 2018 Mentorship Award).  He has been an investigator in a number of important clinical trials and has authored over 350 manuscripts, abstracts, and book chapters.

Previous recipients:

2022 Scott M. Grundy, MD, PhD
2021 Suzanne Oparil, MD
2020 Arthur Agatston, MD
2019 Mark Sussman, PhD