I often describe the 3 greatest assets of the American Heart Association (AHA) as our brand, our grassroots volunteers, and our science. Each is critical to our mission, but without science, we would not be the same organization. We were founded by scientists who sought new insights into heart disease. Now, 100 years later, we remain squarely focused on the power of science and research to improve and extend lives. Our milestone birthday is a perfect opportunity to reflect on our many lifesaving accomplishments along our journey to treat and prevent the 2 leading causes of death worldwide: heart disease and stroke.

Presidential Advisory, see p e964

The presidential advisory in this issue¹ is authored by an esteemed group of current and past AHA volunteer presidents who have been instrumental to our progress. As Chief Executive Officer of the AHA, I have been fortunate enough to lead this organization since 2008; whereas I regularly reflect on what we have done, I am always awestruck by our full suite of accomplishments.

I expect you will have the same reaction as you read through this advisory. A few highlights of our accomplishments since the founding of the AHA on June 10, 1924, include the following:

We have helped dramatically reduce deaths from heart disease and stroke, including a 70% drop from 1950 to 2021 in age-adjusted heart disease deaths, and a 31% decline in age-adjusted stroke deaths since the American Stroke Association’s founding in 1998.

We are the leading funder of heart and brain research outside the federal government, investing >$5.7 billion into cardiovascular and cerebrovascular research since the AHA began funding research in 1948.

Our Get With the Guidelines quality improvement programs now reach 2600 US hospitals, reaching nearly 80% of the country’s population.

We have funded 15 Nobel prize winners during their careers and numerous breakthrough discoveries.

Our advocacy efforts since 1981 have played a leading role in improving access to quality health care; addressing tobacco use and nicotine addiction; providing access to healthy, affordable foods; supporting physical activity access and infrastructure; ensuring clean indoor air; and other vital public health policy priorities.

These, and many other accomplishments highlighted in the advisory, reflect our mission to be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives.

June 11, 2024, will mark the first day of our second century, guided by a new vision for our work: advancing health and hope for everyone, everywhere. With it comes new momentum for our commitment to achieving equitable health and reducing disparities based on race, ethnicity, geography, and socioeconomic status. With all our efforts, from supporting laboratory research to providing guidelines to be implemented in the clinic, at the center of our work is people. We often celebrate metrics such as funding figures and research results, but we should also celebrate our effects on people and their lives. People are living longer, better lives as a result of these advances: people like Geneva Humdy,² bouncing back from 2 heart procedures to celebrate her 70th birthday by running the Ku’ikahi Half Marathon in Hawaii; or Brianne Rico,³ overcoming 12 strokes in her 20s to deliver this message: “It’s important for survivors to understand that there’s hope”; or Lily Davis,⁴ a 6-week-old infant whose heart was beating an astounding 280 times a minute, but is now a healthy, happy 1-year-old child, a reversal that has allowed her mother to “find beauty in life again.”

Every survivor is an inspiration, and this is what advancing health and hope looks like.

Health and hope are what our founders dreamed of when they signed the papers that first launched our organization.

In 1924, heart disease was considered a death sentence. For those who survived, the common treatment was bed rest. AHA cofounder Paul Dudley White, MD, called it “a time of almost unbelievable ignorance about heart disease.” Sparked by a social worker frustrated by the inadequate care of patients with heart disease, White and other cofounders assembled under the belief that if heart disease could be better understood, more patients with heart disease could survive, and thrive.

Within a year of the founding of the AHA, it held its first Scientific Sessions and published its first journal (the predecessor of Circulation). The first statistical update came shortly afterward. A few decades later, the AHA expanded from a doctors-only professional society into a public health organization. Science continued at its core, underscored not only by investment in research but by the results that quickly followed.

In the 1950s and 1960s, AHA-funded breakthroughs included the first drugs to lower blood pressure, the first artificial heart valve replacement, the first external and portable defibrillators, the discovery of links between dietary fats and blood cholesterol, the development of modern cardiopulmonary resuscitation techniques, and the first scientific statement on smoking and heart disease.

Progress continues to this day, and will continue into our next 100 years. We work alongside >32 million volunteers, supporters, donors, and partners, as a highly trusted global brand, with an unprecedented foundation of scientific knowledge powered by new technologies.

This past century of scientific research—a century of problem-solving, scientific discovery, and innovation to find solutions and uncover new treatments and therapies—has resulted in many proven solutions. In the next century, the AHA will continue to lead the way in advancing knowledge that will one day defeat heart disease and stroke. I hope you share my excitement for the possibilities ahead.

None.

The American Heart Association celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2024. This article is part of a series across the entire AHA Journal portfolio written by international thought leaders on the past, present, and future of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular research and care. To explore the full Centennial Collection, visit https://www.ahajournals.org/centennial

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those of the editors or of the American Heart Association.

For Disclosures, see page 898.

Circulation is available at www.ahajournals.org/journal/circ

我经常将美国心脏协会 (AHA) 的三大资产描述为我们的品牌、我们的基层志愿者和我们的科学。每一个对我们的使命都至关重要，但如果没有科学，我们就不会是同一个组织。我们是由寻求心脏病新见解的科学家创立的。100 年后的今天，我们仍然专注于科学和研究改善和延长生命的力量。我们具有里程碑意义的生日是一个绝佳的机会，让我们回顾我们在治疗和预防全球两大死亡原因（心脏病和中风）的历程中取得的许多拯救生命的成就。

总统建议，参见 p e964

本期^{第 1}期的总统建议由一群受人尊敬的现任和前任 AHA 志愿者主席撰写，他们对我们的进步发挥了重要作用。作为 AHA 的首席执行官，我有幸自 2008 年起领导这个组织；虽然我经常反思我们所做的事情，但我总是对我们取得的全部成就感到惊叹。

我预计您在阅读本公告时也会有同样的反应。自 1924 年 6 月 10 日 AHA 成立以来，我们取得的一些重要成就包括：

我们帮助大幅减少了心脏病和中风的死亡人数，包括从 1950 年到 2021 年，年龄调整后的心脏病死亡人数下降了 70%，自 1998 年美国中风协会成立以来，年龄调整后的中风死亡人数下降了 31%。

我们是联邦政府以外心脏和大脑研究的主要资助者，自 AHA 于 1948 年开始资助研究以来，我们已向心血管和脑血管研究投资了超过 57 亿美元。

我们的“遵守指南”质量改进计划现已覆盖美国 2600 家医院，覆盖全国近 80% 的人口。

我们资助了 15 名诺贝尔奖获得者的职业生涯和众多突破性发现。

自 1981 年以来，我们的宣传工作在改善获得优质医疗保健的机会方面发挥了主导作用；解决烟草使用和尼古丁成瘾问题；提供健康、负担得起的食品；支持体育活动的获取和基础设施；确保室内空气清洁；以及其他重要的公共卫生政策优先事项。

这些以及咨询中强调的许多其他成就反映了我们的使命，即成为实现更长寿、更健康的世界的不懈力量。

2024 年 6 月 11 日将标志着我们进入第二个世纪的第一天，我们的工作以新愿景为指导：促进世界各地每个人的健康和希望。随之而来的是我们致力于实现公平健康和减少基于种族、民族、地理和社会经济地位的差异的新动力。从支持实验室研究到提供临床实施指南，我们尽一切努力，以人为中心。我们经常庆祝资金数字和研究成果等指标，但我们也应该庆祝我们对人们及其生活的影响。这些进步使人们的寿命更长、生活更美好：像Geneva Humdy这样的人，在^两次心脏手术后康复，为了庆祝自己的70岁生日，参加了夏威夷的Ku'ikahi半程马拉松；或者 Brianne Rico，^{3 岁}，在 20 多岁时克服了 12 次中风，传达了这样的信息：“对于幸存者来说，了解希望是很重要的”；或者 Lily Davis，⁴是一个 6 周大的婴儿，心脏每分钟跳动 280 次，令人震惊，但现在是一个健康、快乐的 1 岁孩子，这一转变让她的母亲“发现了生活中的美”再次。”

每个幸存者都是一种灵感，这就是促进健康和希望的样子。

健康和希望是我们的创始人签署最初成立我们组织的文件时所梦想的。

1924年，心脏病被认为等于死刑。对于那些幸存的人，常见的治疗方法是卧床休息。AHA 联合创始人、医学博士保罗·达德利·怀特 (Paul Dudley White) 称这是“一个对心脏病几乎难以置信的无知的时代”。一名社会工作者对心脏病患者的护理不足感到沮丧，怀特和其他联合创始人聚集在一起，他们相信，如果能够更好地了解心脏病，更多的心脏病患者就可以生存并茁壮成长。

AHA 成立一年内，召开了第一届科学会议并出版了第一份期刊（《循环》的前身）。不久之后，首次统计数据更新出现。几十年后，美国心脏协会从一个只有医生的专业协会扩展到一个公共卫生组织。科学仍然是其核心，这不仅体现在对研究的投资上，还体现在随后迅速取得的成果上。

在 20 世纪 50 年代和 1960 年代，美国心脏协会 (AHA) 资助的突破包括第一个降低血压的药物、第一个人工心脏瓣膜置换术、第一个体外便携式除颤器、发现膳食脂肪和血液胆固醇之间的联系、现代心肺复苏的发展技术，以及第一个关于吸烟和心脏病的科学陈述。

进步一直持续到今天，并将持续到我们的下一个 100 年。作为一个高度值得信赖的全球品牌，我们与超过 3200 万志愿者、支持者、捐助者和合作伙伴一起工作，拥有由新技术驱动的前所未有的科学知识基础。

过去一个世纪的科学研究——一个通过解决问题、科学发现和创新来寻找解决方案和发现新疗法和疗法的世纪——已经产生了许多经过验证的解决方案。在下个世纪，美国心脏协会将继续引领知识进步，有一天将战胜心脏病和中风。我希望您能分享我对未来可能性的兴奋。

没有任何。

美国心脏协会将于 2024 年庆祝成立 100 周年。本文是国际思想领袖撰写的整个 AHA 期刊系列文章的一部分，内容涉及心脑血管研究和护理的过去、现在和未来。要探索完整的百年纪念收藏，请访问 https://www.ahajournals.org/centennial

本文表达的观点不一定代表编辑或美国心脏协会的观点。

有关披露信息，请参阅第 898 页。

流通量可在 www.ahajournals.org/journal/circ 上获取