Baptist Memorial Health Care helps support the American Heart Association’s inaugural Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Scholar Program at LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis.
The four LeMoyne-Owen students participating in the mentorship program this year are completing research projects and receiving hands-on clinical experience. Dr. John L. Jefferies, professor and chief of the division of adult cardiovascular diseases at University of Tennessee Health Science Center, is the mentor for the program’s Memphis chapter.
Some Baptist leaders, including Dr. Saju Joy, senior vice president/chief medical officer and chief physician executive; Keith Norman, vice president/chief government affairs and community relations officer; Ann Marie Wallace, system community outreach senior coordinator; Dr. Steve Gubin, FACC, cardiologist and president of Stern Cardiovascular; and other staff attended the American Heart Association’s 2022 Mid-South Heart Ball at the Peabody Memphis with all the HBCU scholars.
Baptist also hosted the HBCU scholars at a dinner at Café Society, and the students had the opportunity to share their research projects with their preceptor, Dr. Jefferies; Norman; Dr. Owita Mays, who specializes in internal medicine with Baptist Medical Group; Dr. Gubin; Wallace; and Nicholas Weaver, system community relations coordinator.
HBCU scholar Nelson Mukuka, a biology major at LeMoyne-Owen, said, “My experience being part of the HBCU scholar program is immense. So many worthwhile connects have come my way, and the opportunity to work with Dr. Jefferies and be inspired by the work he is doing has given me motivation to work harder to pursue my dreams.”
Mukuka’s research with Dr. Jefferies involves the HeartBeam system and uses data from Stern Cardiovascular. HeartBeam can be used by patients at home to help detect a heart attack and send information to physicians.
Baptist is working on providing additional meaningful touchpoints in cardiology to allow HBCU scholars to interact with Baptist’s physicians and participate in community programs before their program year ends.
For more information, including how to apply to the program, please visit the HBCU Scholar Recognition Program website.
