Return to Emerging Leaders Home
Empowering the next generation of leaders to shape the future of cardiovascular health.
The Salim Yusuf Emerging Leaders Programme was created in 2014 by WHF Past President Professor Salim Yusuf, with the long-term goal of developing a diverse team of experts who collaborate, research, and act to reduce premature mortality from cardiovascular disease globally.
This WHF initiative is among the first international training programmes on cardiovascular health policy research, health systems and implementation science, and aims to build up capacity through professional development, mentorship and provision of networking opportunities for the selected candidates.
Each year, through a competitive process, 25 Emerging Leaders are selected. These are outstanding individuals who have demonstrated long-term promise through their early careers, and creativity and passion for improving cardiovascular health and preventing CVD. By participating in the Programme, these individuals will develop expertise in:
- Monitoring and evaluating health systems
- Identifying barriers and facilitators for implementation of evidence-based prevention and treatments for CVD
- Developing evidence-based policy research
- Influencing critical stakeholders including policymakers, legislators and media
WHF and its Members believe in a world where heart health for everyone is a fundamental human right, and the Emerging Leaders Programme plays an important part in realising this vision. Focusing on a different priority area each year, the objective of the training module is to help reduce the global burden of cardiovascular disease in line with UN Sustainable Development Goal 3.4.
Our 150 strong expert community has so far tackled a range of issues, including secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases, raised blood pressure, tobacco prevention and control, access to essential medicines, stroke and heart failure.
Become an Emerging Leader
Join our growing global community of CVD experts and advocates
Join the Community
Latest News
2025 Emerging Leaders cohort announced
The 2025 Emerging Leaders cohort, which includes candidates from 25 countries across 5 continents, has been announced The World Heart Federation created the WHF Salim Yusuf Emerging Leaders Programme to form and develop a long-term cadre of experts who collaborate, research, and act to reduce premature mortality from cardiovascular disease globally. The Programme, established by […]
World Heart Federation urges governments to prioritize hypertension treatment at fourth UN High-level Meeting on NCDs
GENEVA, 06 August 2025: Governments must scale up treatment for hypertension, which is one of the major risk factors of cardiovascular disease (CVD), to 500 million more people by 2030 to tackle the global CVD crisis and save millions of lives, according to the World Heart Federation (WHF). The move is one of five key […]
UN High-Level Meeting
World Drug Day: A new frontier for heart health advocacy
The World Heart Federation is proud to observe World Drug Day for the first time, joining the international community in raising awareness about the impact of psychoactive drug use on cardiovascular health. Extensive evidence shows that various psychoactive drugs can severely affect the heart, triggering acute events, such as myocardial infarctions and strokes, and/or contributing […]
No More Smoke and Mirrors: Exposing Industry Tactics to Protect Heart Health
The World Heart Federation is proud to celebrate World No Tobacco Day with the global cardiovascular and tobacco control communities, under the theme Unmasking the Appeal: Exposing Industry Tactics on Tobacco and Nicotine Products. Tobacco remains a major – yet entirely preventable – risk factor for cardiovascular disease, responsible for approximately 15% of all cardiovascular-related […]
