NEWS

Smith recognized for contributions as AHA’s first chief science officer

CHAPEL HILL -- Dr. Sidney C. Smith Jr., professor of medicine and director of the Center for Cardiovascular Science and Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will be honored today (May 29) by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Smith is to receive an award giving special recognition for his work as chief science officer for the American Heart Association. The award presentation is to take place at a meeting of the institute’s National Advisory Council in Bethesda, Md.

In proposing the special award, Dr. Claude Lenfant, institute director, said that during Smith's tenure "the relationship between the AHA and the institute has blossomed as never before, at least during my tenure as director. All of us in the institute have benefited from this wonderful climate of which he has been the architect. More important, our programs have been enhanced, hopefully to greatly ameliorate the cause to which we are all committed."

Smith was the first person to serve as chief science officer and was selected for the position in 2000. The post was created to maintain the association’s leadership role in cardiovascular and stroke research, as well as oversee the association’s key science initiatives and cultivate collaborative partnerships with other organizations and corporations.

Smith has served the American Heart Association as a volunteer for almost three decades. He was president from 1995 to 1996 and served on its board of directors from 1991 to 1997. In 1993, Smith was honored as the American Heart Association’s Physician of the Year. In 2002, he was awarded the association’s prestigious Gold Heart Award.

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Photo note: To download a photo of Smith, click on www.unc.edu/news/pics/faculty/smith_sidney.jpg

News Services contact: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415 or deborah_saine@unc.edu