基思Churchwell, MD, FAHA

Dr. Keith Churchwell is president-elect of the American Heart Association (AHA) for 2023-24. He is president of Yale New Haven Hospital and Associate Clinical Professor, Cardiovascular Medicine, Yale School of Medicine and serves as vice-chair of the Association’s Science Advisory and Coordinating Committee.

A cardiologist with a heart for service and an eye on equity, Dr. Churchwell gained local renown in New Haven, Connecticut for his Saturday “Walk with a Doc” sessions in the underrepresented communities of Dixwell and Newhallville.

他是耶鲁大学纽黑文的第一位黑人总统Hospital, where he formerly served as chief operating officer. He also brings to the role his experience as the executive director and chief medical officer of Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Heart and Vascular Institute.

Across more than two decades of volunteer leadership at the American Heart Association, Dr. Churchwell has shaped the organization’s approach to tackling health disparities and transforming communities.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he evaluated hard data on the disparate impact of the coronavirus on various populations, which informed AHA strategies to address social determinants of health — the conditions in which people are born and live.

He was instrumental in drafting the AHA presidential advisory, "Call to Action: Structural Racism as a Fundamental Driver of Health Disparities." Anchored to our 2024 Impact Goal, this seminal paper is AHA’s North Star as we align to restructure systems, implement policies, eliminate inequities, foster allyship and support research to address poor health and premature death in communities of color.

Under his leadership as chairman of the Advocacy Coordinating Committee, the AHA has achieved wins at every legislative level, including laws and policies requiring CPR training in schools, ensuring access to AEDs in youth sports, reducing nicotine in cigarettes, removing flavored vapes from the market, expanding Medicaid and more.

Dr. Churchwell’s prior volunteer leadership with the AHA includes serving as president of the former Greater Southeast Affiliate from 2010 to 2014 and president of the former Founders Affiliate from 2017 to 2019.

As an ex-officio member of the Eastern States board, he helped reorganize the former Founders, Great Rivers and Mid-Atlantic affiliates into the new Eastern States region, which serves more than 74 million people in 13 states and the District of Columbia. He credits the realignment for providing the organization's volunteers with stronger voices and better tools and resources to serve their communities.