2026 Annual Meeting

Unleashing Prevention’s Power: Improving Americans’ Heart, Kidney, Metabolic, and Brain Health

The 24th Annual Meeting of the National Forum for

Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention

October 29th, 2026 10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. ET

Registration Now Open

The 24th Annual Meeting of the National Forum, Unleashing Prevention’s Power: Improving Americans’ Heart, Kidney, Metabolic, and Brain Health, will focus on moving prevention from aspiration to action. The 2026 convening will challenge us to think boldly, act collaboratively, and turn proven strategies into measurable improvements in heart, kidney, metabolic, and brain health for all Americans.

The 2026 Annual Meeting Features:

• Dynamic discussions on policy, prevention, innovation, and real-world impact.
• Organizations sharing successful strategies and advancing collective action toward better health outcomes.

Opening Keynote:

From Aspiration to Action: Making Prevention the Foundation of a Healthier America. This keynote address will challenge us to refocus America’s healthcare system on prevention.

Session 1: Making Every Visit a Prevention Opportunity

Innovative health systems across the country are redesigning care to integrate cardiovascular, kidney, metabolic, and brain health into routine patient care.  

Through real-world success stories, this session will demonstrate how healthcare teams are making risk assessment and risk reduction essential components of sustainable approaches that improve outcomes. 

Questions This Panel Will Answer 

1. 1. 1. How can healthcare organizations make prevention part of every patient encounter?  
      2. What successful models are improving early detection of hypertension, dyslipidemia, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, and stroke risk?  
      3. How can multidisciplinary care teams improve prevention without increasing provider burden?  
      4. What role do technology, data, and quality improvement play in advancing prevention?  
      5. Which workflow changes can organizations implement immediately to improve patient outcomes?

Mark McClellan, MD, PhD Director, Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy Professor of Business, Medicine and Policy Duke University

Michael W. Cropp, MD, MBA President & Chief Executive Officer Independent Health Association

Session 2: From Evidence to Action: The New Playbooks for Hypertension and Dyslipidemia Management 

New risk assessment tools, emerging therapies, and medical guidelines create opportunities to reduce cardiovascular risk before the disease progresses. We can help determine how quickly these tools and guidelines benefit people at risk. (They will improve people’s health only if clinicians and patients use them.) 

This session will highlight what these changes mean in practice and how healthcare organizations can successfully implement evidence-based strategies and innovations to improve blood pressure and cholesterol control.  

Questions this Panel will Answer 

1. 1. 1. What are the most significant changes in hypertension and dyslipidemia management? Why do they matter?  
      2. Which evidence-based strategies have the greatest potential to improve cardiovascular outcomes today?  
      3. How can health systems and public health overcome common barriers to guideline adoption and patient adherence?   
      4. What actions can organizations take now to improve implementation and outcomes?  

Seth S. Martin, MD, MHS Professor, Division of Cardiology Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Director, Digital Health Innovations Lab Director, Advanced Lipid Disorders Clinic Faculty Leader, Barker Firm Osler Medical Residency Core Faculty, Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Associate Faculty Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research

Sadiya S. Khan, MD, MSc Magerstadt Professor of Cardiovascular Epidemiology Associate Professor of Medicine and Preventive Medicine Director, Center for Population Science and Aging Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Deputy Executive Editor, Circulation

Jacob Shiff Chief AI & Technology Officer, CMS Innovation Center Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Session 3: A United Voice for Prevention

Preventable chronic diseases continue to place an enormous burden on individuals, families, communities, and the healthcare system. This dynamic session will bring together senior leadership from the leading organizations focused on heart, kidney, metabolic, and brain health to present a unified vision for elevating prevention as a national priority.

The session will challenge participants to rethink America’s healthcare system through a prevention-first lens and explore how leaders across sectors can move prevention from aspiration to action.

The session will be a leadership conversation focused on identifying collective actions to amplify the voice for prevention and increase the national focus on preventing chronic disease before it begins.

Questions this Panel will Answer 

1. 1. 1. What distinguishes enduring prevention successes from those that do not achieve lasting impact? 
      2. What lessons can be learned from successful models and other successful population health initiatives?  
      3. How can organizations adapt proven prevention strategies to their own communities?  
      4. What partnerships, policies, and leadership approaches are essential for sustaining impact?  
      5. What practical steps can organizations take to begin scaling prevention initiatives today?  

Edward T. A. Fry, MD, MACC Chair, Ascension Health CV Service Line Past President, American College of Cardiology

Marc Hurlbert, Ph.D. President & Chief Executive Officer National Kidney Foundation

Rita Rastogi Kalyani, MD, MHS Chief Scientific & Medical Officer American Diabetes Association

Eduardo Sanchez, MD, MPH, FAHA Chief Medical Officer for Prevention American Heart Association

Taking Action – Participants Share Successful Prevention Practices 

The most useful ideas often come from those doing the work every day. This interactive session shifts the focus from expert presentations to peer learning by giving participants an opportunity to share successful prevention initiatives, innovative partnerships, and practical lessons from their own organizations, practices, and communities. 

During registration, participants were invited to share how their organizations are unleashing the power of prevention. In this session, you will hear brief updates from a variety of organizations, each showcasing their unique and impactful initiatives. These stories reflect the diverse and innovative ways our community works together to combat cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic disease and promote heart health nationwide. 

Closing Keynote 

Annual Business Meeting and Awards