Contact: Beth Casteel, bcasteel@acc.org, 240-328-4549

SAN FRANCISCO (March 11, 2013) —The American College of Cardiology today elected John Gordon Harold, MD, MACC as president for the year ahead at its 62nd Annual Scientific Session.

Dr. Harold is a clinical professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles and the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles, Calif. He previously served as Chief of Staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center as well as Clinical Chief of Cardiology.

An active member of the ACC, Dr. Harold has held the position of President of the ACC California Chapter, ACC governor for Southern California, and Chair of the ACC Board of Governors. Through collaboration with the ACC California chapter and the British Cardiovascular Society, he also helped to develop the International Twinning program, which pairs an ACC state chapter with a national cardiovascular society. The Twinning program allows ACC chapters to collaborate on opportunities to improve heart health and cardiovascular care around the world.

During his presidency, Dr. Harold will focus on innovation in education and technology and the development and expansion of the ACC’s digital strategy, an initiative that will unify and enhance the College's digital platforms and offerings.

"I am honored to be able to lead the ACC as we begin to navigate the digital landscape in the coming year," Dr. Harold said. "Through this new digital strategy, the College will be able to improve member experience and engagement, enhance the doctor patient/relationship, and improve quality. I will promote ACC's mission to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health and as a global knowledge organization that will continue to innovate and engage with its members in a mutually beneficial way. Forty years ago in San Francisco, my mentor Jeremy Swan, MD, took over as President of the ACC. Serving as ACC President, is in itself an amazing honor, but to assume the same role in the same city as the one person who started me on my journey with the ACC is even more rewarding."

Born in Petaluma, California, and the son of Irish immigrants, Dr. Harold attended New York's Stuyvesant High School and later earned a Bachelor of Science degree at the City College of New York, where he was a member of the first graduating class of the Sophie Davis Center for Biomedical Education. He received his medical degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, which named him Alumnus of the Year in 2007. Dr. Harold completed a three-year residency in internal medicine at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York under the mentorship of Dr. Richard Gorlin and Dr. Simon Dack. He returned to California for fellowship training in cardiovascular disease at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and began his practice in internal medicine and cardiology in 1985.

Dr. Harold received the AHA Passion of the Heart Award and has been honored with the Master designation from both the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Physicians. He recently completed a six year tenure on the Board of the Directors of the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Harold is Board Certified by the ABIM in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease, Critical Care Medicine and Geriatrics.

In addition to Dr. Harold, the complete list of officers for 2013-2014 are President- elect Patrick T. O'Gara, MD, FACC; Vice President Kim Allan Williams, Sr., MD, FACC; Board of Trustees Secretary and Board of Governors Chair David May, MD, PhD, FACC; Treasurer C. Michael Valentine, MD, FACC; and Immediate Past President William A. Zoghbi, MD, FACC. New members of the Board of Trustees are Blair D. Erb, Jr., MD, FACC, Michael J. Mack, MD, FACC, and Public Member Trustee Debra L. Ness, MS.

The ACC's Annual Scientific Session brings together cardiologists and cardiovascular specialists from around the world each year to share the newest discoveries in treatment and prevention.

The mission of the American College of Cardiology is to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health. The College is a 43,000-member medical society comprised of physicians, surgeons, nurses, physician assistants, pharmacists and practice managers. The College is a leader in the formulation of health policy, standards and guidelines. The ACC provides professional education, operates national registries to measure and improve quality of care, disseminates cardiovascular research, and bestows credentials upon cardiovascular specialists who meet stringent qualifications. For more information, visit cardiosource.org/ACC.

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