The World Health Organization (WHO) is currently seeking experts to develop a guideline on management of dyslipidaemia for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. This notice provides information about the work to be completed and application process.
Background
Dyslipidaemia is a metabolic disorder characterized by abnormal levels of lipids in the blood, including elevated total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, or triglycerides (TG), and/or reduced levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Dyslipidaemia is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), including heart attack and stroke, which are leading causes of death globally. Managing blood lipid levels is therefore critical to reducing the global burden of CVD and achieving broader SDG 3.4 related to premature mortality from noncommunicable disease (NCD). While lifestyle changes, including healthy diets and physical activity, play an important role, effective clinical management of dyslipidaemia through, risk assessment, and pharmacological treatment is essential, particularly for individuals at high risk in very important. Over the past decade, important advances have been made in lipid-lowering therapies, risk prediction tools, and population-based prevention strategies. However, current global guidance remains limited in scope and fragmented across different population groups and clinical contexts.
WHO supports Member States in strengthening CVD prevention and control efforts, including through implementation of the WHO HEARTS technical package and other initiatives to integrate NCD services into primary health care. Building on this work, WHO is planning much needed comprehensive global guidance on the management of dyslipidaemia, which will reflect the latest evidence and provide practical recommendations to support countries in delivering effective lipid management across all levels of the health system.
The guideline will be developed following the WHO guideline development process which includes the convening of a multidisciplinary group of experts from all regions of the globe to serve on the guideline development group. The guideline development group will produce a guideline containing evidence-informed recommendations and contextual information to aid policy makers in relevant decision-making.
WHO is therefore currently seeking experts to serve in the guideline development group. Desired characteristics and qualifications for each group are listed separately below.
Information for candidates
Qualifications
Successful candidates should meet most or all of the following qualifications:
- An advanced degree and demonstrated expertise in one or more subject matter areas as listed below
- Recent, relevant scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals
- Leadership, or invited participation, in national or international scientific bodies, committees and other expert advisory bodies pertinent to the scope of this work
- Ability to contribute to the preparation of scientific documents and to work in an international environment with scientists from various disciplines
- Good knowledge of the English language, both written and oral is essential
Subject Matter Expertise Needed
- Cardiometabolic science (expertise in cardiology, endocrinology, and internal medicine), with a focus on cardiometabolic health, lipid management, and noncommunicable disease prevention and control.
- Epidemiology (including experience in the evaluation of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), prospective observational studies, and other relevant methodologies related to dyslipidaemia and cardiovascular risk assessment).
- public health and behavioural sciences (including knowledge of health promotion, behaviour change strategies, and their application in dyslipidaemia prevention and management and Understanding of the health effects of ultra-processed food consumption and its link to dyslipidaemia and cardiovascular outcomes).
- Evidence review methodologies (e.g. expertise in evidence assessment and synthesis, including systematic reviews, GRADE methodology, and the development of clinical and public health guidelines)
Expert activities
Experts will contribute to the following activities as part of the guideline development process:
- Provide input into the scope of the guidelines
- Help to develop the key questions that will guide evidence reviews
- Prioritize important outcomes for decision-making and develop recommendations
- Examine and interpret the evidence, with explicit consideration of the overall balance of risks and benefits
- Formulate recommendations taking into account benefits, harms, values and preferences, feasibility, equity, acceptability, resource requirements, and other factors, as appropriate
- Identify research gaps
- Review the final guideline document
Submitting an application
Interested parties should submit the following documents via the submission form.
- Curriculum vitae, including
- detailed education background;
- relevant work experience; and
- list of peer-reviewed publications.
- Completed Declaration of Interests (DOI) form
- PDF and Word versions of the DOI form, along with documents providing guidance on completing the DOI form can be downloaded at https://extranet.who.int/dataformv6/index.php/584742?lang=en
- Signed Confidentiality Undertaking
- This document can be downloaded at https://extranet.who.int/dataformv6/index.php/584742?lang=en
Process for selection of experts
- Each curriculum vitae will be reviewed to assess whether the applicant meets the qualifications and has relevant expertise in the subject matter areas listed above.
- Declaration of Interest forms will be reviewed. Any potential or perceived conflicts of interest disclosed in the Declaration of Interests form will be considered in the selection process, with input from the WHO Department of Compliance, Risk Management and Ethics as needed.
- In addition to subject matter expertise, the selection of experts will also take into consideration diversity and complementarities of expertise, a balance of genders and balanced representation from WHO geographic regions including developing and developed countries.
- Representatives of commercial organizations may not serve as experts. They may be invited to attend part of the meeting as external resource persons, if required, but may not be present at the meeting when recommendations are being formulated.
Selected experts will be invited to contribute only in their individual capacity and will not represent their government, institution or other organizations. The names and brief biographies of selected experts will be published on the WHO website.
Completing this work is expected to take no more than two years from inception to recommendations. Two virtual meetings are planned with additional virtual meetings held as needed. All meetings will be held in English only and all documents will be prepared and provided in English. No honoraria or other forms of remuneration will be provided.
Documents must be submitted by 15 July 2025 to be eligible for consideration. Documents can be submitted through the online submission form. Detailed instructions for submitting documents are provided in the online form.