Vera Bittner, MD, MSPH

Vera Bittner, MD is a professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She is section head of Preventive Cardiology, director of the Cardiovascular Disease Residency Program, and director of Cardiac Rehabilitation, UAB Hospital. Dr. Bittner is also a professor of nursing at the School of Nursing (appointed through the Dean’s Office), UAB. She is a senior scientist at UAB’s Center for Health Promotion, Center for Aging, Clinical Nutrition Research Center, and Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research.

Dr. Bittner attended medical school at Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universität Frankfurt, Fachbereich Medizin, and received an MD from the University of South Alabama College of Medicine. She completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at North Carolina Baptist Hospital, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, and a fellowship in cardiovascular disease at the UAB. She has also received an MSPH in epidemiology from the UAB School of Public Health.

Very active in international, national, and local organizations, including the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association, Dr. Bittner is on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Journal, Cardiology Today, as well as 6 other publications, in addition to having been a reviewer for almost 40 medical journals. She is a Board member of the National Lipid Association and a past president of the Southeast Lipid Association and the Birmingham Cardiovascular Society. Dr. Bittner has conducted extensive research on a variety of cardiovascular topics, and has published over 100 journal articles, dozens of reviews and book chapters, and more than 150 abstracts. She has made hundreds of international, national, and regional presentations.

David S. Kountz, MD, FACP

David S. Kountz, MD is associate professor of medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He also serves as senior vice president at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, an affiliate of the Medical School in Neptune, New Jersey.

Dr. Kountz earned his undergraduate degree at Princeton University and his MD at the State University of New York in Buffalo. He completed house staff training in internal medicine at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia.

Dr. Kountz has published and lectured extensively on cardiovascular issues, especially in minority populations. In 1998, Dr. Kountz was funded by the CDC to study the management of diabetes in managed care. This study, called Translating Research into Action in Diabetes, or "TRIAD," has resulted in over 60 publications in this area. More recently, he has served as the Editorial Board chair for MetabolicPulse.org, a CME-accredited Web site providing education on diabetes and related disorders to health care providers.

Michael Miller, MD, FACC, FAHA

Michael Miller, MD serves as tenured associate professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology and associate professor of epidemiology and preventive medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. In addition, he is director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical System and staff physician at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Baltimore.

Dr. Miller received his BA from Rutgers College and his MD from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in New Brunswick. Following a medical residency at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, he completed two fellowships at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, one in lipoprotein metabolism and the second in cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Miller’s major research interests are disorders of lipid and lipoprotein metabolism; molecular studies of HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and the postprandial response to dietary fat; nontraditional coronary risk factors; and clinical trials to reduce atherosclerosis. He has participated in landmark clinical trials, including AVERT, MIRACL, PROVE-IT, TNT, and COURAGE. Dr. Miller is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association (AHA) Council on Arteriosclerosis. He is also an active member of the AHA Council on Epidemiology. Dr. Miller is an author of more than 200 original articles, book chapters, and other publications. He is the coauthor of The Practice of Coronary Disease Prevention and the recently published AMA Guide to Preventing and Treating Heart Disease. Dr. Miller is on the program faculty for the Complex Lipid Management Self-Assessment Program, which involves preparation for certification by the American Board of Clinical Lipidology. He is also a member of several editorial boards and a reviewer for numerous journals. Dr. Miller is past president of the American Society of Preventive Cardiology and has served on the Program Committee of the AHA Epidemiology and Prevention Council. His research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, AHA, and Veterans Affairs Administration.

Frank M. Sacks, MD

Frank M. Sacks, MD is professor of cardiovascular disease prevention, Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health; professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School; and senior attending physician, Cardiovascular Division and Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where he has a specialty clinic in hyperlipidemia.

Dr. Sacks earned his degree in medicine from Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Dr. Sacks is involved in research and public policy in cholesterol disorders, nutrition, hypertension, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. His research program is a combination of laboratory research on human lipoprotein metabolism, the effects of lipoproteins on vascular cells, and clinical trials in hyperlipidemia, nutrition, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. Dr. Sacks has contributed over 150 publications of original research, and over 60 reviews, editorials, and chapters. He is a member and vice chair of the American Heart Association Nutrition Committee, and associate editor of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.