Council on Epidemiology and Prevention

I am extremely pleased to welcome you to the American Heart Association (AHA) Council on Epidemiology and Prevention. While I know many of you through my over two decades of engagement with the AHA and with the council, I am eagerly anticipating meeting many of you for the first time! I am excited to introduce myself as the Council Chair—as it has been a professional goal of mine since I first fell in love with the mission of the AHA when I was a graduate student. My peers and I said that one day, we hoped to be the ones who would set the vision and direction of the council. We committed ourselves at that time to extending generosity and support to trainees and early career faculty if we had the opportunity to lead. We additionally expressed enthusiasm to collaborate both within and across councils of the AHA to advance the scientific and public health mission of the organization. I am excited that the time is now! **Mercedes Carnethon, PhD, FAHA** Chair, Council on Epidemiology and Prevention