Lipids Online Touted as Information Lifeline

A new web site that provides instant access to the latest information and educational tools for the management and prevention of cardiovascular disease is now available.

"The site is an information lifeline for clinicians, researchers and educators," says Dr. Christie Ballantyne, associate chief and clinical director of the Section of Atherosclerosis at Baylor College of Medicine and site mastermind. Dr. Ballantyne is also director of the Baylor Atherosclerosis and Lipid Laboratory.

Located at www.lipidsonline.org, Lipids Online features a regularly updated Slide Library with hundreds of high-resolution graphics accompanied by talking points and references, a Virtual Meeting Forum, and an Abstract Library with commentaries on key abstracts by top cardiovascular researchers and clinicians.

"From a desktop or laptop, slides and supporting tools from the Slide Library can be downloaded into a PowerPoint program, enabling professionals to assemble their own customized presentations," says Dr. Michael Fordis, director of Baylor's Center for Collaborative and Interactive Technologies, the group that designed the site.

Presentations from recent national meetings on cholesterol management and other critical topics are housed in The Virtual Meeting Forum. All presentations are augmented with abstracts, searchable references and literature citations, and text that can be downloaded.

Issues likely to be incorporated into the new cholesterol management guidelines are posted in the forum, and CME credit is available through the University of Michigan.

"This technology provides an opportunity to expand the audience yet keep the best aspects of CME," Dr. Ballantyne says.

The site's Abstract Library posts commentaries on cutting-edge abstracts. The summaries, developed by the Lipids Online Advisory Panel, include an overview, key research points and slides, implications and clinical relevance. References are also linked to related abstracts in Medline.

In addition to Dr. Ballantyne, the Lipids Online panel and review board is composed of Drs. T.P. Bersot, H.B. Brewer, E.A. Brinton, J.R. Crouse, M.A. Denke, A.M. Gotto, S.M. Haffner, M. Miller and D.J. Rader. "Lipids Online is a model for education," Dr. Ballantyne says. "It is important to provide a venue for quality science and a resource to the medical community." The site was developed with an unrestricted grant from Merck U.S. Human Health.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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