A Call for Engagement

I am deeply honored to be this year’s President of the Heart Failure Society of America, my primary professional home since the HFSA’s founding. This is a particularly exciting time for HFSA with a growing membership and a variety of new initiatives in the service of our mission to improve lives of those affected by heart failure through education, collaboration, and innovation. The increasing dynamism of the HFSA is evident on many fronts including the transformation of the Journal of Cardiac Failure (JCF), which has become the leading journal in our field. It is no accident that the recent success of JCF has been closely aligned with its editors’ ability to foster a culture of scholarship, learning, innovation, and community that is permeating the HFSA at large.

With this backdrop, I am writing to urge current, and future, HFSA members to consider opportunities to increase their engagement in HFSA and its activities. The opportunities for engagement in HFSA are diverse, and we need your help.

Volunteer opportunities include serving on a committee or task force aligned with your interests and experience; participation in a writing group for an HFSA scientific statement or for a joint statement with another society; representing HFSA on a corporate or government panel, participation in educational activities or our board review course; or proposing sessions for our annual scientific meeting. Our journals, JCF and JCF-Intersections, provide additional diverse opportunities for engagement through peer review, manuscript submission, or service on the editorial board. For those interested in HFSA leadership roles, now or in the future, a track record of participation in these activities will cultivate the insights, relationships and professional skills that are foundational for success.

Few of us have formal training in the workings of non-profit organizations and their unique opportunities for impact. Instead, we learn about these opportunities through participation in the activities prioritized by members interests’ and leaders’ strategic vision. Society engagement provides opportunities for members to:

1. Share and utilize the expertise you have developed in your primary job role beyond your own institutional setting
2. Explore different paths to providing support and value to our patients
3. Foster ongoing education and professional growth for our peers
4. Interface with other professional societies that can complement or extend our impact
5. Expand your peer relationships and reputation outside your own home institution

Engagement through volunteering for roles within HFSA is a truly symbiotic endeavor. As a volunteer your efforts undoubtedly propel the success of HFSA initiatives. At the same time, your participation affords you new professional relationships that provide a foundation for later peer recommendations and enables future leadership opportunities.

As a mid-sized, niche professional society, HFSA volunteer positions are ideal for aligning personal interests, skills and aspiration with meaningful and rewarding projects and activities. You may even have the chance to broaden your sights through opportunities that are outside your interests. If you are not initially selected for your desired volunteer spot, “…try, try again.” From my own experience, I have learned that I learn and grow the most from participation in activities that were initially outside my comfort zone.

In this season of New Year’s resolutions, I urge you to resolve to be more engaged in the HFSA. The 2026 nominations cycle opens on February 23. Search the opportunities, take a chance, get involved!
 

Kenneth B. Margulies, MD, FHFSA
HFSA President 2025-2026