BOSTON – The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association are pleased to announce the co-chairs for the 2017 Boston Heart & Stroke Ball are Elliott M. Antman, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Natalia S. Rost, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital.
The Heart & Stroke Ball is the American Heart Association’s premier social event to celebrate the achievements of local physicians, philanthropists and volunteers. The annual gala will be held on April 29 at the Boston Park Plaza, and is expected to bring together nearly 500 of Boston’s most prominent business, health care and community leaders committed to building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.
Antman and Rost are longtime champions of the American Heart Association’s mission to fighting heart disease and stroke, the No. 1 cause of death and the leading cause of adult disability in the United States.
Dr. Elliott M. Antman
Antman served as president of the American Heart Association from 2014 to 2015. He is a professor of medicine and associate dean for clinical/translational research at Harvard Medical School, a senior investigator in the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) Study Group, and a senior physician in the Cardiovascular Division of Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
He received the Paul Dudley White Award, the American Heart Association’s highest honor, at the 2016 Boston Heart & Stroke Ball.
Rost is a stroke neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. She is also a diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and director of the MGH Acute Stroke Services.
An American Heart Association volunteer since 1977, Antman said he is “continually impressed” with the organization’s “action-driven approach to delivering on its mission.”
Dr. Natalia S. Rost
“Every 40 seconds someone in the United States dies from cardiovascular disease” said Antman. “We need to attack this problem community by community. That’s why it is so important at this year’s Heart & Stroke Ball to highlight all the things that are happening in Boston to chip away at this problem.”
Rost said preventing and treating heart disease and stroke requires increased public education about healthy lifestyle choices, advancements in medical research, and policymaking to protect and improve the health of our communities. She championed for stroke to be front and center during her tenure as president of the American Heart Association’s Board of Directors of the Boston metro area.
“Everyone has a relative or friend who has been impacted by heart disease and stroke,” said Rost. “More importantly, these diseases are preventable and treatable. Events like the Heart & Stroke Ball have a direct benefit on our society because they raise funds that go directly toward fighting these terrible diseases.”
Melissa Padeni, director of the Boston Heart & Stroke Ball, praised Antman and Rost for their commitment to the success of this year’s event.
“They have been a powerful duo in motivating the medical and business communities in Boston to support our mission, and we know they will be instrumental in the success of the Heart & Stroke Ball,” said Padeni.
This year’s ball, which aims to raise $900,000, will be emceed by WCVB NewsCenter 5 anchor Maria Stephanos. The event will feature dinner, dancing, live entertainment and an auction. Last year, the national Heart & Stroke Ball campaign raised just over $71 million nationwide, which helped the American Heart Association fund more than $419 million of research and programs across the country.
SharkNinja is the legacy sponsor of the Boston Heart & Stroke Ball. Brigham and Women’s Hospital Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Sanofi, Walmart, Massachusetts General Hospital, Benchmark Senior Living, CVS Health, Philips, The CardioVascular Center at Tufts Medical Center, and Newton-Wellesley Hospital are the event sponsors. WCVB-TV and Boston Magazine are the media sponsors. For more information, visit bostonheartandstrokeball.heart.org.