Dr. Laurence Sperling

Laurence S. Sperling, M.D., FACC, FAHA, FACP, MASPC is the Founder and was the Director of The Heart Disease Prevention Center at Emory (1997-2019). He is currently the Katz Professor in Preventive Cardiology at the Emory University School of Medicine, and Professor of Global Health in the Rollins School of Public Health. Dr. Sperling is the current Executive Director of Million Hearts for the Division of Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He served as the President of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology from 2014-2016, served on the writing committee of the 2018 ACC/ AHA/ Multi-society Guideline on the Management on Blood Cholesterol, serves as Associate Editor for the American Journal of Preventive Cardiology, and the Chair of the World Heart Federation writing group on the Roadmap for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention among People Living with Diabetes. He served on the Writing Committee of the American Heart Association Cardiovascular Kidney Metabolic Health (CKMH) Initiative which has brought forth the importance of an integrated approach to prevention and treatment in this high-risk population.


Dr. Sperling founded (in 2004) and directs the first and only LDL apheresis program in the state of Georgia, and was the PI for The National FH Registry site at Emory. He has received awards for excellence in both teaching (including 4 Apple Awards and The Dean’s Teaching Award) and mentorship (Emory SOM 2018 Mentorship Award). He has received the Emory School of Medicine Alumni Award of Honor (2017), and the Pioneer in Prevention Award from the American Society of Preventive Cardiology in 2023. He is an elected member of the Association of University Cardiologists. He has been an investigator in a number of important clinical trials and has authored over 400 manuscripts, abstracts, and book chapters.


Dr. Sperling is originally from New York. He received his undergraduate degree from Emory College where he was accepted into Emory University School of Medicine’s Early Acceptance Program as a college sophomore. He graduated with his M.D. in 1989, and subsequently completed 8 additional years of training at Emory including a residency in internal medicine, chief resident year at Emory University Hospital, an NIH-supported research fellowship in molecular and vascular medicine, and a clinical fellowship in cardiovascular diseases.

Dr. Sperling was awarded The American College of Cardiology Harry B. Graf Career Development Award for Heart Disease Prevention and The American Heart Association Council on Clinical Cardiology Scholarship for Physical Activity and Public Health in 2001.

Dr. Sperling serves or has served as medical director for a number of unique programs at Emory including The HeartWise Risk Reduction Program, InterVent Atlanta, Staying Aloft, and has served as special consultant to The Centers for Disease Control. He founded (in 2004) and directs the first and only LDL apheresis program in the state of Georgia. He has been voted one of America’s and Atlanta’s Top Doctors and appeared often on local and national TV, newspaper, radio, and magazines. In 2011 he was chosen as one of 20 national dietary experts by U.S. News and World Report to evaluate and rank America’s popular diets. He has received awards for excellence in both teaching (including 4 Golden Apple Awards and The Dean’s Teaching Award) and mentorship. He was chosen by the Dean at Emory University School of Medicine to be among the first faculty society advisors for the school’s new curriculum. He had served as Associate Director of the Cardiovascular Fellowship Training program at Emory for over a decade. He has been an investigator in a number of important clinical trials including JUPITER, COURAGE, and BARI-2D and has authored over 200 manuscripts, abstracts, and book chapters. He is co-editor of the American College of Cardiology’s Diabetes Self Assessment Program, was a member of the American College of Cardiology Prevention Committee, and currently serves as Co-Chairman of the American College of Cardiology’s Diabetes and Cardiometabolic Working group, in addition to Chairman of the National Cardiometabolic Alliance. He also serves on the ACC’s Population Health Policy and Health Promotions committee, as well as the research and publications committee of the National Diabetes Collaborative Registry. He was a member of the steering committee and moderator for the Inaugural U.S. Familial Hypercholesterolemia Summit in September, 2013. Dr. Sperling is the Director the ESCAPE CV Prevention meeting, now in its 15th year. He has delivered invited presentations on every continent except for Antarctica.

Dr. Sperling has been a marathon runner having completed the New York, Prague, and Atlanta marathons. In 2010 he ran the original course from Marathon to Athens, Greece to celebrate the 2500th anniversary of this event. He lives in the Druid Hills neighborhood of Atlanta with his wife, Sidney, and 2 sons, Mathew and Daniel.