The American Heart Association will present its 2026 Chairman's Award to Cheryl A.M. Anderson, Ph.D., M.P.H., FAHA, founding dean of the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at the University of California, San Diego. The award, announced by NEWMEDIAWIRE, recognizes medical and science volunteers whose leadership advances the Association's goals beyond their scientific contributions. Dr. Anderson will be honored during the Association's Scientific Sessions 2026, scheduled for Nov. 6-9 in Chicago.
An internationally recognized nutrition and cardiovascular disease epidemiologist, Dr. Anderson has helped shape the Association's strategy, strengthen its volunteer community and translate evidence into action in communities across the country. “Few volunteer leaders have shaped the work of the American Heart Association as broadly or deeply as Dr. Cheryl Anderson, and it is a privilege to recognize her with the 2026 Chairman's Award,” said Lee A. Shapiro, J.D., 2025-27 volunteer chairperson of the Association's National Board of Directors. “Her impact extends beyond her scientific accomplishments. She brings people together around bold goals, mentors emerging leaders and turns evidence into action that strengthens the Association and the communities we serve.”
Dr. Anderson's commitment to community health was most recently demonstrated through UC San Diego's Revive and Survive initiative, developed in partnership with the American Heart Association's San Diego team. The initiative recently reached its goal of training 1 million people in San Diego in bystander CPR, uniting 49 partners across public health, public safety, education, business and community organizations around the shared goal of creating a Nation of Lifesavers. That effort matters because bystander CPR can dramatically improve survival rates for cardiac arrest, a leading cause of death worldwide.
Dr. Anderson has also helped advance the emerging field of Food is Medicine. As part of the volunteer leadership team guiding the Association's inaugural Food is Medicine research planning efforts, she helped shape a scientifically rigorous portfolio focused on how nutrition interventions can support engagement, adherence and lasting behavior change. She has championed nutrition-related public policy through the Association's Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health and influenced national and international policy through service on the National Academy of Medicine's Food and Nutrition Board and the 2025 U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Most recently, she represented the Association on the writing committee for the 2026 multi-society Joint Guideline on the Management of Dyslipidemia and co-authored the Association's 2026 scientific statement, “Dietary Guidance to Improve Cardiovascular Health.” These guidelines are expected to inform clinical practice and public health recommendations, potentially affecting how millions of patients manage cholesterol and diet.
A dedicated volunteer since 2004, Dr. Anderson has served on the National Board of Directors and chaired the Council Operations Committee, the Council on Epidemiology and Prevention and the Nutrition Committee for the Council on Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health. She has also served on the Science Advisory and Coordinating Committee and the Advocacy Coordinating Committee. Her research has deepened understanding of how sodium, nutrition and healthy eating patterns influence cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, Type 2 diabetes and other chronic conditions. As founding dean of UC San Diego's Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, she has led significant growth in interdisciplinary education, research and innovation.
“I am deeply honored to receive this award from the American Heart Association, an organization I admire for its commitment to research, advocacy and developing the next generation of cardiovascular health leaders,” said Dr. Anderson. “For more than two decades, I have been inspired by what we have accomplished together, and I am grateful for the opportunity to continue advancing our shared goal of making the healthy diet choice the default.”
For more information about the American Heart Association's work, visit heart.org and stroke.org.
