NEW ORLEANS — A Tulane cardiologist is the latest recipient of the Living Legends award.
Dr. Keith Ferdinand started a small clinic in the Ninth Ward that was open for three decades before being destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.
Now at Tulane as a physician and researcher, he's been a leader lead in reducing heart disease disparities. He's published more than 250 studies on cardiovascular disease and risks, especially in minorities. That's taken him around the world, giving medical lectures, but he says what's most meaningful to him is right here at home.
“But none of that is vital to me. The vital part of what I am are the people who raised me, New Orleans Public Schools, my mother, my father. And I think it's important for us to recognize, those of us who are professionals, that being a physician means that you're able to hear people's inner thoughts, their secrets. They believe us. They trust us. It's an important relationship, and we shouldn't take that for granted.”
The award is given by the Center for African and African-American studies along with Lyceum at SUNO.