Mellanie True Hills

Following a brush with death in emergency heart surgery, and a subsequent close call with a stroke due to an irregular heartbeat, atrial fibrillation, Mellanie True Hills pledged to leave behind her high-tech executive life to use her second chance to help others avoid heart disease and stroke.

As a patient advocate and heart-health expert, she founded the non-profit American Foundation for Women's Health and StopAfib.org, a patient advocacy organization that provides information and support for those living with atrial fibrillation (afib). She travels extensively, speaking out about heart disease, stroke, prevention, and patient advocacy, including at medical conferences, hospital atrial fibrillation community events, and corporate events.

From partnering in Facing AFib, featuring actress Susan Lucci, and AF Stat, featuring NBA Hall-of-Famer Jerry West, to enlisting help from global experts, atrial fibrillation and stroke awareness are real passions for Mellanie. Through StopAfib.org, the most visited heart arrhythmia site worldwide, she seeks to raise awareness of atrial fibrillation to decrease afib-related strokes and to improve quality of life for patients and their families by supporting and enhancing communication with their health-care providers. Successes include creating Atrial Fibrillation Awareness Month and lobbying with other organizations to gain U.S. Senate designation of September as National Atrial Fibrillation Awareness Month. She brings the voice of the atrial fibrillation patient community to think tanks, health policy discussions in Washington, DC, and awareness-raising coalitions and partnerships worldwide.

Mellanie educates, inspires, and motivates audiences to make lasting changes in their lives to protect their health. She also guides patients and caregivers to become better health advocates and helps health-care providers understand what it is like to live with atrial fibrillation and how to better help their patients. She also leads the annual Get in Rhythm. Stay in Rhythm. Atrial Fibrillation Patient Conference.

Always an agent of innovation, transformation and change, Mellanie led the creation of one of the first corporate web sites, JCPenney.com, and one of the first corporate intranets. She was also a high tech executive at Dell, an executive strategist at Cisco, a world-renowned Internet strategy consultant, a business journalist, and has spoken and consulted from Singapore to Rio de Janeiro and Johannesburg to New Delhi.

Author of the multiple award-winning book, A Woman's Guide to Saving Her Own Life: The HEART Program for Health and Longevity, and two best-sellers, Intranet Business Strategies (© Wiley) and Intranet as Groupware (© Wiley), she also appears in the highly-acclaimed Sixty Things to Do When You Turn Sixty (© Sellers Publishing).

She is a regular contributor on patient perspectives to EP (Electrophysiology) Lab Digest, and has been featured by hundreds of media around the globe, including CNBC Asia, Reuters, Newsweek, PBS, Fox, ABC, NBC, and CBS. Her story and mission have been featured in Better Homes and Gardens, Heart-Healthy Living, More, New York Times, Success, and USA Weekend.

She is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) and a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA) and NSA/North Texas.

Most Requested Topics
• A Patient's Perspective on Living With Atrial Fibrillation (Arrhythmias)
• Patient Empowerment: What Afib Patients Need to Know
• Patient Engagement for Healthcare Professionals

Healthcare and Non-Profit Clients and Audiences
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality of the US Department of Health and Human Services
• Alliance for Aging Research
• American College of Cardiology
• American Heart Association
• Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Society
• Aspirus Wausau Hospital
• AtriCure
• Bayer
• Boehringer-Ingelheim
• Bristol-Myers Squibb
• Frye Regional Medical Center
• Heart Rhythm Society
• Indiana Heart Hospital
• Ingham Regional Medical Center
• Lehigh Valley Health Network
• Medtronic
• Mended Hearts National Convention
• Oakwood Healthcare System
• Pfizer
• Shands Hospital/University of Florida Medical Center
• Spirit of Women Heartcaring Conference
• St. Joseph's Hospital, Phoenix
• St. Joseph Mercy Health System, Ann Arbor
• Stanford University EP in the West
• University of Utah Medical Center
• Venice Arrhythmias
• Wellmark Inc./BlueCross BlueShield of Iowa
• Western Atrial Fibrillation Symposium

Other Selected Clients and Audiences
• Agilent Technologies
• American Standard
• Bell Atlantic Network Integration
• Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
• Cisco Systems
• Coca-Cola Enterprises
• Compaq Computer Corporation
• Dell Computer
• Deloitte & Touche
• General Motors/Cadillac
• Hewlett-Packard
• JCPenney Company
• Texas Instruments
• Texas Department of Insurance
• Texas Governor's Commission on Women State Agency Council
• Texas Governor's Conference for Women
• Texas Water Development Board
• The Trane Company
• Times Mirror Company
• Verizon