Dr. Samuel Gidding Joins the Family Heart Foundation as Chief Medical Officer

the Family Heart Foundation, a global research and advocacy organization, today announced that Dr. Samuel Gidding will join as chief medical officer. Dr. Gidding brings more than 30 years of experience in preventative cardiology, pediatric cardiology and heart failure/transplantation with a strong focus in familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), most recently serving as division head of pediatric cardiology at Nemours Cardiac Center and A. I. DuPont Hospital for Children, and professor of pediatrics at Thomas Jefferson University.

“As the scale and scope of the Family Heart Foundation’s national and international portfolio of work grows, we are pleased to have Dr. Gidding join the leadership team of the Family Heart Foundation as our Chief Medical Officer,” said Katherine Wilemon, founder and CEO of the Family Heart Foundation. “Dr. Gidding’s extensive expertise as a pediatric cardiologist and scientist, as well as his deep understanding of FH as a family condition, will contribute greatly to the Family Heart Foundation’s research, advocacy, and community programs.”

“FH is a pressing public health concern, leaving 1 in 220 individuals at tremendous risk of early heart disease,” Dr. Gidding said. “the Family Heart Foundation has been a catalyzing force to drive both clinical practice guidelines and the implementation of novel precision medicine approaches to ensure the early identification and treatment of individuals with FH. By building upon these efforts, we have the opportunity to change the trajectory of heart disease in the U.S. and worldwide.”

Dr. Gidding has practiced pediatric and preventive cardiology for the Nemours Cardiac Center for the past 18 years. He has led and designed clinical trials that span statin interventions in adolescents, PCSK9 inhibitors, diabetes, early imaging of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular morbidity of obesity. Dr. Gidding founded The Pediatric Atherosclerosis Prevention and Lipidology (PeDAL), a consortium dedicated to prevention of adult onset lipid related diseases beginning in youth. He has developed clinical practice guidelines and scientific statements on familial hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, tobacco, obesity, nutrition, diabetes, and congenital heart disease for AHA, AAP, NHLBI, WHO, CDC, EAS, NLA and ADA. He received his medical degree from the College of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ Rutgers Medical School and conducted additional training at University of Michigan and SUNY-Upstate.