James M. McKenney, PharmD, is President and CEO of National Clinical Research, Inc., in Richmond, Virginia. He is also Professor Emeritus of the School of Pharmacy of Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. McKenney received his Bachelor of Science degree in pharmacy from the Medical College of Virginia (MCV) and his doctorate from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.

Dr. McKenney developed an ambulatory clinical pharmacy service at MCV Hospitals that directly involves pharmacists with the monitoring and management of drug therapy for referred patients in a primary care center at MCV Hospitals, one of the first such clinics in the country. He also developed the first training program in the country to be accredited for pharmacy residents specializing in ambulatory care.

Immediately following Dr. McKenney's presentation is an Information Update by Dr. Paul Thompson. Dr. Thompson will discuss two new and promising options in lipid management—ezetimibe, first in a new class of cholesterol absorption inhibitors was approved by the FDA October of 2002, and rosuvastatin, a potent new statin which was approved by the FDA on August 12, 2003.

Paul D. Thompson, MD, graduated cum laude in biology from Tufts College and received his medical degree from Tufts Medical School. He served as a medical intern and resident, as well as a cardiology catheterization fellow, at Tufts New England Medical Center, Boston, before completing his training in cardiology at Stanford University Medical Center in California.

Dr. Thompson is Professor of Medicine at the University of Connecticut and Director of the Preventive Cardiology Program and of Cardiovascular Research at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut. He was previously a Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, from 1992 to 1997, and on the faculty of Brown University, Providence, from 1978 to 1992.

At the conclusion of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Examine the clinical and epidemiologic importance of atherosclerosis as a major cause of morbidity and mortality.
  
• Define the role of dyslipidemia as a major risk factor for atherosclerosis, especially in terms of major clinical trial data showing improved outcomes when dyslipidemia is treated with statin drugs.
  
• Identify the biochemical and pharmacological aspects of cholesterol synthesis; in particular, the mechanism of statins.

This online lecture is intended for pharmacists.

The participant's actions should follow in this order:
(1) Read the objectives
(2) Follow Dr. McKenney's online slide presentation and Dr. Thompson's information update