2023-2024
Marsha Jones
Chairperson
Jones holds a Bachelor of Arts from Lehman College, a master of arts from Columbia University and is a graduate of The Executive Leadership Development Program of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Joseph C. Wu, MD, PhD, FAHA
President
Dr. Wu serves on the FDA Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee and is on the Board of the Keystone Symposia. He is an elected member of Association of University Cardiologists (AUC), American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), American Association of Physicians (AAP), and National Academy of Medicine (NAM).
Raymond P. Vara, Jr.
Immediate Past Chairperson
Vara holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Hawaii Pacific University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. He was honored with the AHA’s Distinguished National Leadership award in 2023.
Michelle Albert, MD, MPH, FACC, FAHA
Immediate Past President
Dr. Albert is the Walter A. Haas-Lucie Stern Endowed Chair in Cardiology and Professor in Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), Admissions Dean for UCSF Medical School and Director of the CeNter for the StUdy of AdveRsiTy and CardiovascUlaR DiseasE. Dr. Albert is a graduate of Haverford College, the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Harvard School of Public Health.
Lee Shapiro
Chairperson-Elect
Shapiro practiced commercial law at Barack, Ferrazzano, Kirschbaum, Perlman and Nagelberg, a prominent Chicago law firm. He holds a JD degree from The University of Chicago Law School and a BS in Accounting from the University of Illinois.
Keith Churchwell,MD, FAHA
President-Elect
Most recently, Dr. Churchwell served as President of Yale New Haven Hospital and Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at Yale School of Medicine. Previous positions at Yale included Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer and Senior Vice President and Executive Director for Heart & Vascular Services, Transplantation Services and Clinical Service Coordinator for the Department of Medicine at Yale New Haven Hospital.
Linda Gooden
Treasurer
Following a nearly 40-year career in the aerospace and defense industry, most recently as the executive vice president of Lockheed Martin’s Information Systems & Global Solutions business area, Gooden now devotes her time and talent to the American Heart Association mission. Her service began when a friend recruited her to do a local Heart Walk — her first of many. She said the AHA’s dedication to health equity resonated with her, and the opportunity to raise awareness.
Suzie Upton
Chief Operating Officer
She is accountable for volunteerism strategy and fundraising that includes the field campaign, planned giving, individual and major gifts, and corporate relations. She is also accountable for creating additional revenue sources through innovative approaches to fundraising and new business models. Growing revenue and volunteer resources is critical to saving and improving lives through research and education.
Rose Marie Robertson, M.D., FAHA
Deputy Chief Science and Medical Officer
Dr. Robertson has served on numerous review and advisory committees for the National Institutes of Health, the American College of Cardiology and the European Society of Cardiology. She currently chairs the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s National Advisory Committee for the Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Award. She received the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Partner in Public Health Award in 2001.
Mariell Jessup, M.D., FAHA
Chief Science and Medical Officer _
An internationally renowned thought leader in heart failure research, prevention and treatment, Dr. Jessup’s efforts resulted in heart failure and transplant cardiology becoming a certified secondary subspecialty in 2004. Her tireless and compassionate work as a physician scientist and mentor have touched the lives of many patients and their families, and young professionals, over her distinguished clinical career.
Larry Cannon
Chief Administrative Officer and Corporate Secretary
Before joining the American Heart Association in May 2017, Cannon was Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary for FTS International, in Fort Worth, Texas. Prior to that, Cannon was a corporate attorney for Jones Day in Dallas, and Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago, where he structured and negotiated domestic and international securities offerings, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures.
Gerald Johnson
EVP, Office of Health Equity, and Chief Diversity Officer
As Chief Diversity Officer for the American Heart Association (AHA), Gerald brings a wealth of experience in building brands and driving sales results for great brands including Lever 2000, Oreo, Chips Ahoy, Dr Pepper, 7-UP, Snapple, Healthy Choice, Orville Redenbacher and Earvin “Magic” Johnson at fortune 100 companies including Unilever, Nabisco, Cadbury Schweppes, Dr. Pepper/7-UP, ConAgra Foods and Magic Johnson Enterprises.
John Meiners
Chief of Mission Aligned Businesses and Healthcare Solutions
John oversees multiple revenue-generating mission delivery departments at the Association, including Healthcare Business Solutions, International Programs, Quality, Outcomes Research & Analytics, and the Center for Health Technology and Innovation. The Healthcare Business Solutions business includes CPR & First Aid education at more than 4,000 training centers with 450,000 instructors who train 22 million people per year in more than 100 countries.
Eduardo Sanchez, M.D., M.P.H., FAAFP
Chief Medical Officer for Prevention _
Dr. Eduardo Sanchez serves as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for Prevention for the American Heart Association (AHA). He is the Principal Investigator (PI) of the National Hypertension Control Initiative (NHCI), a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). He is the AHA clinical lead on Target:BP (a joint blood pressure control initiative with the American Medical Association) and KnowDiabetesbyHeartTM.
Mitchell S. V. Elkind, M.D., M.S., FAHA
Chief Clinical Science Officer _
As a long-time AHA volunteer, Dr. Elkind has served on numerous leadership committees, including three terms on the National Board of Directors, two terms as chairperson of the ASA Advisory Committee (2016-20), and is a past chairperson of the Science Advisory and Coordinating Committee (2020-21), Manuscript Oversight Committee, Awards Subcommittee, and a past co-chair of the Governance Committee (2021-22).
Laura Sol
Chief of Staff to the CEO _
Laura joined the AHA’s New England Affiliate in 1999, where she worked as Vice President of Development and Field Operations for the Metro Boston area. She was promoted to Senior Vice President for the Northeast Affiliate and oversaw Development, Corporate Relations and Donor Relations. After a merger with the New York Affiliate, she became a member of the Founders Affiliate Executive Management Team and Senior Vice President for Metro Boston.
Katrina McGhee
Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer _
McGhee became the American Heart Association’s executive vice president for marketing and communications in early 2020, returning to the organization where she already had a long list of accomplishments years before. In between her two AHA stints, she served in executive leadership roles at Susan G. Komen for the Cure, founded her own academy to help empower women and advised executives as a strategic consultant and career coach.
Jennifer Hall, Ph.D., FAHA
Chief, Data Science, Co-Director, Institute for Precision Cardiovascular Medicine
At the intersection of health, technology and science, Dr. Hall leads a highly diversified team of experts in data science, health research, metrics and evaluation, health technology and products. These powerful factors come together to drive new evolutions in science through the Association’s Precision Medicine Platform, a cloud-based technology solution that empowers the global medical research community to accelerate breakthroughs in cardiovascular and brain diseases.
2023-2024 Board of Directors
These amazing people have allowed our company to expand to the capacity that it is today. Every member has dedicated their time, energy, and so much more. Check out all of their incredible accomplishments on American Heart Association’s About Us page. Click the link below!