Keith C. Ferdinand, MD

Keith C. Ferdinand, MD, is Adjunct Clinical Professor at the Morehouse School of Medicine and Clinical Professor at Emory University, as well as Chief Science Officer and past Chair of the Board at the Association of Black Cardiologists, Inc. In the community, Dr. Ferdinand is a principal investigator of the Healthy Heart Community Projects, a cardiovascular risk program targeting African-American and other high-risk populations.

Dr. Ferdinand was a member of the ALLHAT Data Safety and Monitoring Board and chair of Section Four of the Sixth Report of the Joint National Committee. He is currently a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Minority Populations for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and a member of the National High Blood Pressure Education Program Coordinating Committee. He was Director of the NHLBI Physician’s Health Network, a program that educated physicians and the lay population on cardiovascular risk reduction.

Dr. Ferdinand received his medical degree from Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, DC. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease, a diplomate certified in the subspecialty of Nuclear Cardiology, an American Society of Hypertension certified specialist in Clinical Hypertension, and a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology. Dr. Ferdinand has written for Cardiology Clinics, Annual of Drug Therapy, and Cardiovascular Diseases in Blacks.

In 2004, Dr. Ferdinand received the Louis B. Russell, Jr., Memorial Award of the American Heart Association and the Walter M. Booker Community Service Award of the Association of Black Cardiologists. He presently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, displaced from his native New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina in September 2005, which destroyed his cardiovascular center and severely damaged his home. In Atlanta, he is Director of the Association of Black Cardiologists Hurricane Katrina relief effort, known as the HOPE (Health Outreach and Empowerment) Initiative.