WHF Past President Dr Sidney Smith was presented with the WHF Lifetime Achievement Award today at the opening of ESC Congress 2019 together with the World Congress of Cardiology, for his remarkable contribution to the mission of the World Heart Federation and the entire CVD community over the entirety of his illustrious career.
Dr. Smith is the second recipient of the award. In 2018, the inaugural recipient of the award was Antonio Bayés de Luna, MD, a professor of cardiology at the University of Barcelona and the founder of World Heart Day.
“I am deeply grateful to be recognized with the World Heart Federation Lifetime Achievement Award,” said Dr. Smith, who served as president of the World Heart Federation (WHF) from 2011 to 2013, and chair of the WHF Scientific Advisory Board from 2003 to 2011. “For whatever small contributions I have been able to make to the work of the WHF, I have received substantial and profound awareness and opportunities to collaborate with others broadly at the international level, which has resulted in one of the most rewarding experiences of my career,” Dr. Smith said.
As WHF President, Dr. Smith spoke at the United Nations in 2011 at their first ever meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases about the need for action to address the global burden of cardiovascular disease. His international work includes quality improvement programs and development of evidence based guidelines on treatment strategies for myocardial infarction, heart failure and atrial fibrillation in countries, such as China, Brazil and Dubai. Dr. Smith also co-chaired four World Congress of Cardiology meetings, in Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Beijing and Dubai.
Dr. Smith is an active clinical cardiologist and clinical researcher. He is a world-recognized expert on developing national and international guidelines for assessment of cardiovascular risk and for treatment of cardiovascular disorders including hypertension, cholesterol abnormalities, and acute coronary syndromes.
Dr. Smith is a past president of the American Heart Association and the World Heart Federation. He has served as a Senior Advisor to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and has been honored numerous times for his important contributions to address the impact of cardiovascular disease. His awards include the Eugene H. Drake Memorial Award (American Heart Association, 2003), the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Award of Special Recognition (2003), the Joseph Stokes Award (American Society for Preventive Cardiology, 2013), the AHA Council on Clinical Cardiology’s Distinguished Achievement Award (2013), the Ron Haddock AHA/ASA International Impact Award (2015) and the James Herrick Distinguished Clinician Award (2018).
Dr. Smith has authored or co-authored more than 400 published papers and chapters and has served on the editorial boards for the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Circulation, JAMA Cardiology, the Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine, and the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Cardiology. He is widely requested to speak on his work at national and international meetings.
Each year since 1998, Dr. Smith has been elected to Best Doctors in America.
