Laurence Sperling, MD is the Founder and Director of Preventive Cardiology at the Emory Clinic and Co-Director of the Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Program at Emory. He is currently Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at the Emory University School of Medicine. He 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 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 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 3 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 150 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 Chairman of the American College of Cardiology's Cardiometabolic Working group and National Cardiometabolic Alliance. In addition, he is treasurer for The American Society of Preventive Cardiology.
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.
