2021 Robert I. Levy Memorial Lecturer – Penny M. Kris-Etherton, PhD, FAHA

Dr. Penny Kris-Etherton is Evan Pugh University Professor of Nutritional Sciences in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at The Pennsylvania State University where she has served on the faculty since 1979. Her clinical nutrition research focuses on understanding the effect of diet on CVD risk factors.

Dr. Kris-Etherton has served on committees that have issued dietary guidelines (the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Advisory Committee and the 2002 National Academies Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Macronutrients and Cholesterol). She served on the 2nd Adult Treatment Panel of the National Cholesterol Education Program. Dr. Kris-Etherton has co-authored numerous AHA Scientific Statements and Advisories that have made lifestyle recommendations for the prevention and treatment of CVD. She also co-authored the National Lipid Association’s recommendations for Patient-Centered Management of Dyslipidemia. In addition, she served on the ACC Expert Consensus Decision Panel that just published a paper on the management of ASCVD risk reduction in patients with persistent hypertriglyceridemia.

Dr. Kris-Etherton is Past-Chair of both the AHA Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health, and the AHA Nutrition Committee. She is a Fellow of the AHA, the National Lipid Association (where she was President), and the American Society for Nutrition. She has published over 420 papers and has received numerous awards from the American Society for Nutrition, the American Oil Chemist’s Society, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the International Nut & Dried Fruit Council, and the National Lipid Association for her scientific contributions.