Raising heart health awareness at SXSW 2026

Last week, I had the privilege of moderating a panel at SXSW about a health issue that touches all of our lives -- cardiovascular disease. Did you know that it's the leading cause of death worldwide? In fact, here in the U.S. alone, someone experiences a heart attack or stroke every *40 seconds.* As you can imagine, those numbers (and their overall health impact) are staggering.

That's why it's so important that we have conversations that elevate awareness around how heart disease can impact everyone from all walks of life. Through these discussions, we can shed a needed spotlight on crucial interventions. Take LDL-C, or "bad cholesterol," for example, which is one of the leading, but also one of the most modifiable risk factors for heart disease.

It was so great to chat with Barry Sanders, Hall of Famer and one of the greatest running backs of all time, Chad Witheridge, a heart attack survivor and nonprofit founder who took a life changing moment and made it into his mission, and Nerissa Gomes, VP and General Manager of U.S. Cardiovascular at Amgen.

They discussed the role sports icons and role models like Barry can play in using their platforms to raise awareness and take it off the field to drive health behavior change.