Clinical Lipidology Update 2026, Asia Pacific

Welcome to Clinical Lipidology Update for 2026

The Asian-Pacific Society of Atherosclerosis and Vascular Diseases Inc. (APSAVD) is pleased to provide this clinical lipidology educational training for MSD staff moving into the clinical area of lipids and lipid management. The training comprises an online and face-to-face educational programme for company representatives from the Asia-Pacific region. The training is endorsed by the European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS).

Lipid-lowering treatments are key to preventing and managing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), one of the leading causes of illness and death worldwide. Participants will learn about the latest developments in clinical lipidology and approaches to lipid management, bridging the gap between theory and real-world experience in lipid-lowering therapies.

Throughout the course, our expert faculty will explore recent developments in research, updates in treatment guidelines, and illustrate their impact with patient-case studies.

Participants completing the course will have a clearer understanding of how lipid-lowering strategies are applied in everyday practice according to current guidelines, and improved confidence in discussions with physicians on recently published data.

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The programme is in two parts:

• Part 1: Available now. A short online curriculum of on-demand lectures for invited participants to work through prior to…
• Part 2: A face-to-face meeting 11-12 April. Separate registration is required, invited participants only.

Sign in required. It is expected that each attendee will complete online training before the face-to-face
meeting.

At your own pace, work through these presentations to refresh your knowledge in the area in advance of the face-to-face meeting.

Ask the panel

During the face-to-face meeting there will be lots of opportunity to ask questions to the course faculty. If, while viewing the online presentations you think of questions that you’d like to put to the faculty, send them in advance.

The purpose of the training is to provide views from experts in the lipidology field,
including observations on recent clinical trials and research developments.

The programme topics are as follows:

• Evolution of Guidelines (focus on LDL-C treatment goals)
• Implementation/quality in LDL-C lowering. Gaps between guidelines and clinical practice
• LDL-driven CV risk & obesity
• Combination therapy
• Lp(a) and remnant cholesterol in residual cardiovascular risk after LDL-C lowering
• Imaging to help us quantify plaque burden
• New & emerging therapies
• FAQs raised by physicians on new data

Programme

Saturday April 11
13:00	Welcome, Introduction, housekeeping	Louella Santos (Philippines)
13:10	Evolution of Guidelines from 4S onwards with respect to LDL-C treatment goals: Which landmark trials changed goals? The gap between guidelines goals and clinical practice	Brian Tomlinson (Macau)
13:55	Break
14:00	Combination therapy	Louella Santos (Philippines)
14:45	Break
15:00	Implementation/quality in LDL-C lowering: How do we change the landscape?	Gerald Watts (Australia)
15:45	Break
15:50	Lp(a) and remnant cholesterol in residual cardiovascular risk after LDL-C lowering	Børge Nordestgaard (Denmark/EAS)
16:35	Break 15 min
16:50	Enclicitide: The Coralreef Trials	Børge Nordestgaard (Denmark/EAS) Gerald Watts (Australia)
17:35	Break
17:40	Panel Q&A	All
18:20	Wrap up & Close – Day 1 concludes 18:30	Rody Sy (Philippines)
Sunday April 12
8:00	Welcome, Introduction
8:05	How LDL-driven CV risk fits in the cardio-renal-metabolic axis (obesity)	Richard O’Brien (Australia)
8:50	Can imaging help us quantify plaque burden and characteristics or vulnerability?	Raman Puri (India)
9:35	New therapies: How will they change the landscape?	Rody Sy (Philippines)
10:20	Break
10:40	Case1: High lipoprotein(a)	Wann Loh (Singapore), Edward Janus (Australia)
11:05	Case 2: Familial hypercholesterolaemia	Hapizah Nawawi (Malaysia), Gerald Watts (Australia)
11:30	Case 3: Both LDL-C and TG/remnant-C high	Sunanto Ng (Indonesia) Richard O’Brien (Australia)
11:55	Case 4: Women and cardiovascular disease	Louella Santos (Philippines), Wann Loh (Singapore)
12:20	Panel Q&A	All
12:50	Wrap up & Close – Day 2 concludes 13:00

Course Learning Objectives:

Participants completing the course will have

• a clearer understanding of how lipid-lowering strategies are applied in everyday practice according to current guidelines
• improved confidence in discussions with physicians on recently published data

Faculty

Eminent clinicians with education expertise from the Asia-Pacific and beyond have modified the EAS materials and will deliver the face-to-face training:

Dr Youngwoo Jang

Professor Edward Janus

MD, PhD, FRACP, FRCPA

Edward Janus is a Physician who graduated in New Zealand and completed his PhD London on Lipoprotein metabolism. Founder secretary and past president of APSAVD. He has worked in New Zealand, Australia, England and Hong Kong. His main interest is in clinical lipidology and in the epidemiology and prevention of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. He is a founding member of the APSAVD.

Dr Hong An Le

MD

An Le is a General Practitioner, Cardiologist and Echocardiographer at the Vietnam National Heart Institute, Bach Mai Hospital, Vietnam. Her clinical work covers cardiac conditions, including coronary artery disease and arrhythmias where she performs and interprets ECGs, echocardiograms, and other diagnostic tests as well as conducting emergency procedures like intubation and catheterization. Importantly, she develops long-term care plans, including medication prescriptions and lifestyle counselling.  A member of the Vietnam National Heart Association, An has contributed to cardiology research projects, clinical studies, conferences and cardiology knowledge sharing platforms. She was awarded 1st Prize, Vietnam National Congress of Cardiology (2016), has published in International Journal of Medical Genetics (2020) and presented at the ASEAN Federation of Cardiology Congress (2023).

Dr Wann Jia Loh

MB BS, BSc, MRCP, MMed, NUS-MCI, FAMS

Wann Loh is a Senior Consultant Endocrinologist at Changi General Hospital (CGH) and Clinical Assistant Professor at Duke-NUS Medical School. She currently holds leadership appointments as Head of Lipid Unit of CGH, a service that she set up in 2018 and expanded to a multi-disciplinary team including nurse, pharmacist and dietician. She is also the Co-lead, Specialist (Diabetes) care, SingHealth Duke-NUS Diabetes Centre (SDDC), Section Editor for Diabetes, Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity and member of the Research Officer team in Medicine Academic Clinical Programme (Medicine ACP). Her research spans the translational research spectrum from laboratory discoveries to clinical trials and has centred on lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)], dyslipidaemia, obesity, and metabolic disorders with a particular emphasis on cardiovascular risk prediction and treatment resistance mechanisms. She has 60 peer-reviewed publications in peer-reviewed journals in endocrinology, cardiology, and metabolism. Her research contributions span from large prospective studies on insulin resistance and cancer mortality to innovative case series on rare metabolic conditions. Her comprehensive reviews include inherited hypercholesterolemia published in Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinics of North America and her work on lipoprotein(a) management strategies published in Current Atherosclerosis Reports and a few publications in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (highly respected journal in endocrinology). Notably, she has also made major contributions to the area of clinical practice and public health education.

Professor Hapizah Nawawi

MD, FAMM, FASc, FRCPath

Hapizah Nawawi is a Senior Consultant in Chemical Pathology and Metabolic Medicine. She was a Senior Professor at the Faculties of Medicine, UKM and UiTM, and Founding Director and Principal Fellow of I-PPerForM, one of the Malaysian Centres of Research Excellence (CoE), with niche areas in atherosclerosis and CHD prevention. Membership Secretary and Immediate Past President of APSAVD. She has worked and studied in Malaysia, United Kingdom and Japan. She pioneered and was the Consultant Physician-in-charge of the Specialist Lipids and Coronary Risk Prevention Clinics at the UKM and UiTM Teaching Hospitals. Her clinical and research interest is in the field of lipidology, including pathogenesis, molecular basis, diagnosis, treatment and implementation strategies of FH, dyslipidaemias, atherosclerosis, coronary risk factors, novel biomarkers of atherogenesis, and CHD prevention. She is the Malaysian Principal Investigator for the Asia-Pacific FH-10 countries research programme, in collaboration with the FH Australasian Network, University of Western Australia and APSAVD. She is the National Country Lead Investigator for Malaysia for the EAS-FHSC (EAS-FH Study collaboration), involving over 70 countries worldwide. She has supervised 62 postgraduates including 32 PhD and 5 postdoctoral fellows. She has published over 145 indexed publications, including over 30 high impact papers, 15 books/chapters in books; with over 3665 citations and h-index of 30. She has actively contributed to public advocation

activities for the Malaysian communities, including health screening programmes, health education talks, exhibitions, counselling, dissemination of knowledge and information to the general public through public forum, mass and social media.

Professor Børge Nordestgaard

MD, DMSc

Børge Nordestgaard studied and worked in Copenhagen, New York, and London/ He currently is Professor & Chief Physician, Copenhagen University Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and President of the European Atherosclerosis Society. He has for more than 40 years continued his interest in the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of familial hypercholesterolemia, hyperlipidemia, lipoprotein(a), remnant cholesterol, triglycerides, atherosclerosis, diabetes, and liver, renal, and cardiovascular disease, and has written extensively on these conditions. He is chairing the Copenhagen General Population Study and is a steering committee member of the Copenhagen City Heart Study and five phase 3 cardiovascular intervention trials .Prof. Børge G. Nordestgaard has supervised 75 Ph.D. students and 35 postdoctoral fellows, and has published 1020 original articles and 166 reviews, book chapters, consensus statements, & editorials. His H-index is 183 in Web of Science and he is listed among the top 0.1% researchers worldwide with the most highly cited papers. Original articles include publications in NEJM, Lancet, JAMA, Nature, Science, baby Nature journals, BMJ, baby Lancet journals, Circulation, European Heart Journal, JACC and baby JAMA journals.

Dr Sunanto Ng

MD, MSc, PhD

Sunanto Ng is an interventional cardiologist specializing in advanced complex Percutaneous Coronary Interventions (PCI) and structural cardiac interventions at the National Cardiovascular Center Harapan Kita. His career seamlessly integrates clinical practice, teaching, and research, shaped by rigorous training in Indonesia and the Netherlands. Since 2012, he has served as a faculty member at one of Indonesia’s most prestigious medical schools, educating the next generation of physicians in medicine and clinical epidemiology. He currently holds the position of Chief Editor for the Indonesian Journal of Cardiology, Indonesia’s leading peer-reviewed journal in the field. He is committed to enhancing patient outcomes and advancing cardiovascular care through precision interventions, academic collaborations such as the Rheumatic Heart Diseases – Valvular Working Group and the Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis, Lipidology, and Regenerative Therapy Working Group, and scholarly contributions.

Professor Richard O’Brien

MBBS, PhD, FRACP

Richard O’Brien is Clinical Dean of the Austin Clinical School, University of Melbourne, Director of Graduate Programs and Executive Education for the Melbourne Medical School and Director of the Lipid Service at Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia.  He is a Liaison for External Societies and a Past President of the APSAVD and is also a Past President of the Australian Atherosclerosis Society.  He is Lipid Clinic Coordinator for the Asia Pacific region for the European Atherosclerosis Society and a member of the Australian National Heart Foundation lipid guidelines committee. 

Dr Raman Puri

MBBS, MD, DM
Raman Puri is a distinguished cardiologist with over four decades of experience in clinical cardiology, interventional procedures, and research. He has played a pivotal role in advancing lipid management and cardiovascular health in India. The American Association of Cardiologists of Indian Origin has recognized him as the father of lipidology in India. He is the Founder and Chairman of the Lipid Association of India and currently a Senior Interventional Cardiologist at the Cardiac Care Centre and Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi. He holds Fellowships in Cardiology and Clinical Interventional Cardiology and is a member or Fellow of both Indian and international professional associations. Dr. Puri initiated the Lipidology Certification Course in 2018. Since then, 25 physicians across India have become certified lipidologists, and many of them are now successfully running their own lipid clinics and centers. He has been pivotal in shaping guidelines for lipid management in India. Notably, his unique recommendations from 2016, 2022, and 2024 Lipid Association of India (LAI) guidelines have influenced international lipid management standards, prompting modifications to their recommendations.

Dr Lourdes Ella (Louella) Santos

MD, FPCP, FPCC

Louella Santos is the Head of Preventive Cardiology at the Cardiovascular Institute, Cardinal Santos Medical Center. Recognized as the country’s only lipidologist, she specializes in hypertension, lipid management, and prevention of cardiovascular diseases. She is a Director of the Philippine Heart Association, President of the Asian-Pacific Society of Atherosclerosis and Vascular Diseases and Past President of the Philippine Lipid and Atherosclerosis Society.

Dr Ta Chen Su

MD, PhD

Dr. Su has 28 years of experience in academic research and teaching in the fields of preventive cardiology, hyperlipidemia, and occupational and environmental medicine. In past 2 decades, he investigated the impact of environmental pollution on subclinical cardiovascular diseases and endocrine/metabolic health, particularly air pollution and endocrine disrupting chemicals on cardiovascular health in susceptible populations. He led a familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) cohort study and hyperchylomicronemia genetic study in Taiwan since 2008, and established a platform of next generation sequencing for molecular genetic study of FH in National Taiwan University Hospital. Dr. Su serves as an executive committee member of preventive cardiology in Taiwan Society of Cardiology since 2012. He serves as the executive committee member of Asian Pacific Society of Atherosclerosis and Vascular Diseases since 2016. He also serves as the executive committee member of International Atherosclerosis Society Asia Pacific Federation since 2016. He was appointed as the EAS FH Studies Collaboration National Lead Investigator of Taiwan since 2014. He was invited to join as one of the Air Pollution Expert Group, World Heart Federation, since 2019 November. He was appointed as the Director, Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine since 2018 August. He has published more than 200 papers in famous peer-review journals.

Professor Rody Sy

MD

As the former Chair of the Philippine General Hospital’s Department of Medicine, Rody Sy has been a leader, mentor, and advocate for excellence in clinical care, teaching, and research. He inspires generations of Filipino physicians. One of the youngest to become Philippine Heart Association president, he has achieved much as a researcher, educator, and physician. He has spearheaded numerous research projects on lipids and related topics, including studies on the epidemiology of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and diagnostic exercise electrocardiography which became the basis of present-day exercise stress testing. Rody is Diplomate & Fellow, Philippine College of Physicians, Philippine Heart Association and Philippine College of Cardiology, a Fellow, American College of Cardiology, ASEAN College of Cardiology, Chairman and President, UP Medical Alumni Foundation, Inc., Past President, Philippine Heart Association and Past President, Philippine Lipid and Atherosclerosis Society. He is a founding member of the APSAVD.

Professor Brian Tomlinson.

BSc, MBBS, MD, MRCP, FHKCP, FRCP , FHKAM, FCP, FACP.

Brian Tomlinson has been Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at Macau University of Science & Technology and Consultant at the University Hospital in Macau since 2019. He was previously Professor of Medicine and Therapeutics and Head of the Division of Clinical Pharmacology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Honorary Consultant Physician at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong. He trained as a specialist in Internal Medicine, Clinical Pharmacology and Clinical Toxicology at the Middlesex Hospital and University College London, and he has a particular clinical and research interest in lipid disorders, hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. He has published extensively in major journals, including The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet and Nature, with H Index 64 and 618 publications listed in the Web of Science Collection. He works with international groups on lipid disorders and genetics of metabolic disease and is currently Chair of the Asia-Pacific Federation of the International Atherosclerosis Society (IAS) and a former President of the Asian-Pacific Society of Atherosclerosis and Vascular Diseases. He is an invited speaker at international meetings several times a year. He has been awarded numerous grants for research and has been an investigator in many clinical trials including Principal Investigator in Phase 1 Clinical Trials and Co-Investigator in International Phase II and III trials in hyperlipidaemia, hypertension and diabetes funded by pharmaceutical companies. He was an Examiner for the final MBChB examination at CUHK from 1990 to 2018 and has acted as external examiner for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in various countries and he has trained over 35 postgraduate students.

Gerald F. Watts

DSc, MD, PhD, FRCP, FRACP, FCSANZ

Gerald Watts trained at Imperial & King’s College, London University, and was a scholar at Wolfson College, Oxford University. He is senior consultant physician, specializing in the rapidly developing field of cardio-metabolic medicine, and the current chair of the Familial Hypercholesterolemia Australasia Network. He leads the Cardio-metabolic Service in the Departments of Cardiology and Internal Medicine at Royal Perth Hospital and is Winthrop Professor of Cardio-metabolic Medicine in the University of Western Australia. Research interests include fundamental and applied aspects of lipid disorders and cardiovascular prevention, and improving healthcare delivery for patients with high-risk dyslipidemias, such as familial hypercholesterolemia and hyperchylomicronemia. He has supervised several Masters and PhD students and post-doctoral research fellows, and holds several research grants, with multiple international collaborations. Professor Watts has published over 700 articles and other works and is a highly cited author. He is on the editorial board of several journals, including Atherosclerosis, Metabolism, Annals of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Lipidology, American Journal of Preventative Cardiology, Current Opinion in Lipidology, and Current Opinion in Endocrinology and Diabetes.