Dr. William B. White, professor of medicine and chief of the Calhoun Cardiology Center Division of Hypertension and Clinical Pharmacology, has been involved with the American Society of Hypertension since its inception in 1985.

“While it has grown as a professional society, I have grown as a physician and clinical investigator,” White says.

Today, with an inauguration ceremony in New York City at the society’s national meeting, he begins a two-year term as its president.

“I am honored to have been elected president of the American Society of Hypertension for 2012-2014,” White says. “ASH remains the largest and most visible professional organization devoted to the management of hypertension and its consequences in the USA. It is a tremendous responsibility to be at its helm but also a wonderful challenge to undertake and one that I look forward to.”

White, who also is a fellow of the American Society of Hypertension, has served in several leadership positions, including as a member of its board of directors and as program chair of its annual scientific meeting.

“There’s been much more focus on obesity, cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, even C-reactive protein, but blood pressure is the major risk factor for stroke as well as a very potent risk factor for heart failure in older people, even in the absence of coronary disease, and kidney failure, particularly in African-Americans,” White says.

ASH states as its mission “the advancement of science, prevention and treatment of high blood pressure and its consequences.”

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