Kevin Sneed, PharmD, elected Chair of Cultural Health Initiatives Committee

St. Petersburg, Fla. (Sept. 2, 2010) — Dr. Kevin Sneed was elected to the American Heart Association, Greater Southeast Affiliate board of directors. He is slated to serve as Chairman of the Cultural Health Initiatives Committee during the association’s 2010-2011 fiscal year.

Sneed is the founding dean of the University of South Florida School of Pharmacy and a tenured associate professor in the USF Department of Family Medicine. The School of Pharmacy, within the USF College of Medicine, will welcome its first class of students in August 2011.

Kevin Sneed, PharmD

During the upcoming year, Sneed’s leadership will help the organization impact heart disease and stroke in the affiliate. In particular, he will help advance initiatives among minority populations including African Americans and Hispanics, who are at greater risk of cardiovascular disease.

Sneed’s interest in cardiometabolic disorders will help emphasis the importance of specific risk factors — primarily hypertension, elevated fasting glucose, dyslipidemia, abdominal obesity (waist circumference) and elevated triglycerides.

Sneed has been affiliated with AHA for nearly 10 years, specifically focused on health disparities impacting cardiovascular disease in the Tampa Bay area. In that time, he has led efforts surrounding the Search Your Heart program, an American Heart Association faith-based curriculum and also championed the Power To End Stroke initiative as a campaign ambassador, spreading stroke education within the African American community.

“I am honored to be able to serve as a board member and look forward to helping the American Heart Association lead the fight to saves lives from cardiovascular disease and stroke.” said Dr. Sneed.

The AHA Greater Southeast Affiliate serves Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Puerto Rico. The board will help the association achieve its impact goal to improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20 percent while reducing deaths from cardiovascular diseases and stroke by 20 percent by 2020.

About the American Heart Association

Founded in 1924, we’re the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary health organization dedicated to building healthier lives, free of heart disease and stroke. To help prevent, treat and defeat these diseases — America’s No. 1 and No. 3 killers — we fund cutting-edge research, conduct lifesaving public and professional educational programs, and advocate to protect public health. To learn more or join us in helping all Americans, call 1-800-AHA-USA1 or visit americanheart.org.

About USF Health

USF Health (www.health.usf.edu) is dedicated to creating a model of health care based on understanding the full spectrum of health. It includes the University of South Florida’s colleges of medicine, nursing, and public health; the schools of biomedical sciences as well as pharmacy, and physical therapy & rehabilitation sciences; and the USF Physicians Group. With more than $394.1 million in research grants and contracts in FY2009/2010, the University of South Florida is one of the nation’s top 63 public research universities and one of only 25 public research universities nationwide with very high research activity that is designated as community-engaged by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.