André Churchwell, M.D., associate dean of Diversity and associate professor of Medicine, Radiology and Biomedical Engineering, was named the first president of a newly formed cardiovascular fellows society by his alma mater, Emory University School of Medicine, where he completed his graduate medical education.
The J. Willis Hurst, R. Bruce Logue, and Nanette K. Wenger Cardiovascular Society was created to connect Emory cardiology alumni to each other and to current cardiology faculty. The group’s purpose is to provide networking opportunities for alumni, to promote alumni accomplishments and to encourage further investment and support of Emory cardiology’s mission. The society was named in honor of three Emory physicians who impacted the careers of generations of cardiologists, according to Emory’s Cardiology Alumni News.
Churchwell graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in Biomedical Engineering and later graduated from Harvard Medical School. He completed his internship, residency and cardiology fellowship in Atlanta at Emory University, where, in 1984, he was the first African-American named as chief resident of medicine at Grady Memorial Hospital. After completing his training, he joined the faculty at Emory, conducting basic research, seeing patients, teaching students, running the ECHO lab and creating and directing the office of minority affairs.
All the while, he and other Emory and Georgia Tech faculty helped spearhead the creation of the Emory-Georgia Tech Biomedical Technology Research Center. He also received the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Minority Faculty Development award.
The inaugural meeting of the society was held Jan. 25-26, in conjunction with the Atlanta Clinical Cardiology Update (CCU) Continuing Medical Education (CME) course.