P.A.D. Coalition's Fifth Annual Meeting

More than 80 people gathered in Washington, D.C., on September 7-8, 2008, for the P.A.D. Coalition's Fifth Annual Meeting. The Coalition is now comprised of 75 organizations that collectively represent more than 1,022,000 health-care professionals and 500,000 consumers.

Some meeting highlights included a keynote address from outgoing P.A.D. Coalition chair, Dr. Alan T. Hirsh, who stressed the need for continued PAD education and awareness. The Coalition also reviewed several new partnerships to increase PAD awareness at the community level, including:

African Methodist Episcopal Church Partnership: To inform African Americans about PAD, the Coalition has formed a partnership with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AMEC), which is the nation's largest African American congregation. Thanks to corporate funding, the Coalition was able to print and distribute large quantities of resources to AMEC churches this September.

P.A.D. Coalition and CVS Caremark Join Forces to Educate Americans about Peripheral Arterial Disease: CVS Caremark, the nation's largest provider of prescriptions, is working with the Coalition to educate consumers this fall.

National Library of Medicine's Medline Plus Magazine Promotes PAD and the P.A.D. Coalition: The September 2008 issue of NIH MedlinePlus magazine, published by the Friends of the National Library of Medicine (FNLM) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), includes a special section on PAD to help the American public understand this serious health issue.

National Council on Aging Partnership: To reach older adults with information about PAD, the Coalition has joined forces with the National Council on Aging to distribute PAD information and conduct educational sessions at senior centers this fall.

New DVD from the American College of Physicians and the P.A.D. Coalition: A new resource for waiting rooms and community programs is now available! Produced by the American College of Physicians in collaboration with the Coalition, this patient-oriented DVD reviews key components of PAD treatment and shows how PAD affects one's everyday life. Free copies are available for health-care providers through www.padcoalition.org.

The Coalition also presented the 2008 Best PAD Research Awards to honor the work of investigators and acknowledge the creation of new clinical research relevant to the understanding and/or treatment of PAD.

The Best P.A.D. Research Award in Vascular Medicine was presented to John P. Cooke, MD, PhD, Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, at Stanford University in Stanford, California. Dr. Cooke and his colleagues were recognized for their work on the research study that identified biomarkers that would aid clinicians in diagnosing unrecognized PAD.

Best P.A.D. Research Award in Epidemiology/ Preventive Medicine went to Danielle Laurin, PhD, associate professor at the Laval University Geriatrics Research Unit in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Dr. Laurin and her colleagues were recognized for their work on the research study, ÒAnkle-to-Brachial Index and Dementia: The Honolulu-Asia Aging Study,Ó which identified the association between a low ankle-to-brachial index (ABI) measure with Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, and other forms of dementia.

Steven Marso, MD, received the Best PAD Research Award in Vascular Interventions. Dr. Marso is a Clinical Scholar at the Mid-America Heart Institute at Saint Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. He and his colleagues were recognized for their work on the research study, ÒQuantifying Improvements in Symptoms, Functioning, and Quality of Life after Peripheral Endovascular Revascularization,Ó which measured the extent to which peripheral endovascular revascularization improved the quality of life for patients with PAD one year after the procedure.

In addition to the Best Research awards, The Coalition also awarded its Community Service Awards to recognize collaborative programs focused on increasing awareness about PAD to high-risk populations, patients, and/or the health-care community. This year's national award was presented to the American College of Cardiology for its extensive efforts to educate health-care professionals and to advance the quality of care for people with PAD.

The local Community Service Award was presented to Desert Springs Hospital's Diabetes Treatment Center for its innovative and comprehensive approach to PAD outreach and education through its Leg Circulation Center. Launched in 2007, the Leg Circulation Center has reached over 1.5 million consumers, patients, and health-care providers locally and nationally.

The Coalition recognized Alan Hirsch, MD, the outgoing chair of the Coalition, who has led the Coalition for the past four years. Dr. Hirsch's strategic vision and commitment to excellence have enabled the Coalition to increase the scope of its activities and outreach. The current Vice Chair, Marge Lovell, RN advanced to the Chair position. Ms. Lovell's dedication to improving the lives of all people with PAD is unmatched. In addition to these changes, two new members were elected to the Coalition's Steering Committee: Kirk Geter, DPM (incoming Secretary), and Donna Mendes, MD (incoming Chair, Education Committee).

The P.A.D. Coalition is supported by the following national sponsors: the Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Partnership; Cordis Endovascular, a division of Cordis Corporation; Abbott Vascular; AnGes, Inc.; AstraZeneca; Bard Peripheral Vascular; Baxter Healthcare; BioMedix; Cook, Inc; W.L. Gore and Associates; Medtronic; Novo Nordisk; Omron; Summit Doppler; and Vermillion.

For more information on the P.A.D. Coalition, visit www.padcoalition.org.