Healthcare at West Virginia University

Healthcare at West Virginia University

The WVU Heart Institute

CARDIAC — Coronary Artery Risk Detection in Appalachian Communities

William A. Neal, MD, is the founder and director of the CARDIAC Project, which is designed to address the high morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease in West Virginia.

Established in 1998, the CARDIAC Project has three specific aims – (1) reduce the heart disease mortality rate to no more than 200 deaths per 100,000 population; (2) provide the opportunity for West Virginia’s health science students to learn the concepts of health promotion/disease prevention at the local community level; and (3) partner with state government, secondary, and higher education, and the private sector to reverse the obesity epidemic in West Virginia.

Since inception, the CARDIAC Project has grown from a small school-based project in three rural counties to an effort involving all 55 counties in the state.

Dr. Neal earned his medical degree at WVU, where he was the first recipient of the Edward J. Van Liere Award for medical student research. He continued his training as an intern at Milwaukee County General Hospital and studied pediatric cardiology at the University of Minnesota.

In addition to CARDIAC, Neal was instrumental in the establishment and development of WVU Children’s Hospital and the Ronald McDonald House. He received the National Rural Health Association’s Louis Gorin Award for Outstanding Rural Health Achievement and has significantly impacted the state’s regionalization of neonatal health care.

Neal was influential in the establishment of pediatric cardiology outreach clinics and emergency transportation of critical care infants in West Virginia.

For more information visit the CARDIAC Project.

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