The Campaign for the Future in Action
From the very beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, the ACC emerged as a trusted source for clinical information related to the virus and its effects on cardiovascular disease. Thanks to Campaign for the Future funding support from trusted partners like Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. & Eli Lilly and Company, Bristol Myers Squibb Company, and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, the ACC was able to provide clinicians worldwide with ongoing education throughout the summer of 2020 to help with managing and treating cardiovascular patients who are among those at greater risk for the novel virus.
The ACC’s comprehensive COVID-19 education programming, included a successful Summer COVID-19 Education Series that brought together experts from around the world for weekly discussions on topics like clinician well-being, clotting and anticoagulation, health equity, return to sports, children and COVID-19, vaccinations and more. In addition, a special Heart House Roundtables series convened stakeholders spanning the cardiovascular community, industry and payers, to help solve for challenges related to telehealth and the future of clinical research.
Access the ACC’s COVID-19 Hub for more information on the College’s COVID-19 efforts.
The lack of diversity in patient populations taking part in clinical trial research, coupled with the lack of diversity in those conducting the research, pose significant challenges to improving cardiovascular care and patient outcomes. With support from Bristol-Myers Squibb, the Campaign for the Future was able to expand the reach of the Clinical Trials Research: Upping Your Game program.
The program, which is designed to expose women and underrepresented minorities to careers in clinical trial research, offers focused mentoring and career development support, as well as in-person and online educational programming over a two-year period. Participants gain insight into the science and operations of clinical therapeutics and device development, be exposed to leading experts in clinical trials research, and come away with an understanding of the spectrum of career pathways available.
Learn more about the Upping Your Game program.
Thanks to a transformational gift of $1 million from Sandra J. Lewis, MD, FACC, to the Campaign for the Future, the inaugural cohort of the Sandra J. Lewis Mid-Career Women's Leadership Institute kicks off in January 2022. The unique program will provide female cardiologists who are 12 to 21 years past their cardiovascular fellowship with the essential skills, tools and dedicated support to flourish during a distinct and pivotal phase of their career. Institute attendees will have the opportunity to consider where they currently are personally and professionally, the direction they would like their career to go, the state of their current network, and the ways in which the ACC can support their professional journey.
"For many women 15 to 20 years into their career, changes in responsibilities serve as an opportunity to reassess, reimagine and reinvent their professional lives," says Lewis. "While this stage may serve as a professional renaissance for many, it is also a stage that further benefits from unique guidance and targeted leadership development in a successful transition forward."
Young cardiologists from the Middle East and North Africa regions will have an opportunity starting in 2022 to elevate their training by visiting hospitals in the U.S. for observership programs as part of a new awards program created as part of a Campaign for the Future gift from Hani K. Najm, MD, MSc, FACC.
The Hani Najm Global Scholar Awards will allow two early career cardiologists – one from a Gulf country and one from another Middle East or North African country – to come to the U.S. for a four-week long observership at a major health system and will culminate with attendance at that year's ACC Annual Scientific Session. Award winners will be invited to Early Career Section programming and be recognized during Convocation.
"One of the most common requests from international physicians is the opportunity to train in the U.S. with the help of the American College of Cardiology," said Najm. "I feel privileged to be able to sponsor this award, as the sharing of knowledge is the best way to combat the devastating effects of cardiovascular disease worldwide."
Help continue the work started by the Campaign for the Future with a tax-deductible donation to the ACC Foundation's Annual Fund.