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(Circulation. 1995;91:1253-1262.)
© 1995 American Heart Association, Inc.

Articles

History of the Council on Epidemiology and Prevention, American Heart Association

The Pursuit of Epidemiology Within the American Heart Association: Prehistory and Early Organization

Henry Blackburn, MD; Frederick H. Epstein, MD

From the Division of Epidemiology (H.B.), School of Public Health, University of Minnesota (Minneapolis); and the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (F.H.E.), University of Zurich, Switzerland.

Correspondence to Henry Blackburn, MD, 1300 S Second St, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55454.

Key Words: epidemiology • prevention

	Introduction

 
We present a brief history of the Council on Epidemiology and Prevention of the American Heart Association (AHA), one of 14 such scientific councils. It is based on a review of documents in the AHA archives at the National Center in Dallas, Tex, and on our personal experience dating back to predecessor organizations of the council. We recount in particular the early difficulties in getting acceptance of the idea of the new council. Then, we encapsulate the scientific and organizational issues and events that occupied the founders and members in the formation and subsequent activities of the council. Finally, we assess the principal contributions of the council to cardiovascular medicine and to the public health; these include stimulation of the field by annual scientific conferences, directed research, and the development of methods. The council interacts widely within the AHA nationally as well as with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI); World Health Organization (WHO); International Society and Federation of Cardiology; The Society of Preventive Cardiology; and The American College of Cardiology. The council also has been an advocate for preventive practice and public health policy.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) epidemiology is a relatively new field of scientific endeavor that developed with the growing burden of disease among western industrial countries following World War II. CVD epidemiology was initiated in a unique manner—not by "epidemiologists" but rather by clinicians and laboratory scientists who were most familiar with the manifestations and mechanisms of these diseases. These investigators became epidemiologists to satisfy . . . [Full Text of this Article]