Jackson Free Press

The American Heart Association recently named Dr. Herman Taylor, Professor of Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, vice president of its Greater Southeast Affiliate Board of Directors. Taylor will serve during the association's 2013 to 2014 fiscal years.

Taylor developed an interest in medicine as a child growing up in Alabama.

"As I went through school I wanted to be everything from oceanographer to astronaut to doctor," Taylor said. "The reason I chose medicine is because it combined two things I love: people and science. I also noticed a lot of cardiovascular disease and stroke in my community. Seeing illnesses among people I loved influenced me strongly."

After graduating from John Caroll High School in Birmingham Ala., Taylor went on to Princeton University, where he majored in biology. It was during this time that Taylor began to pursue cardiology.

"I had a lot of interest in the heart, and that interest solidified when I spent a summer at Cornell Medical School between my junior and senior years in college," Taylor said. "(Cornell) had a special program called Summer Research Fellowships that targeted minority students. There was a course in cardiovascular physiology that I fell in love with, and I knew from then that I wanted to be a cardiologist."

After finishing college, Taylor began working at the National Health Service Corps in the Miami, Fla., Liberty City neighborhood, an area that was, at the time, embroiled in race riots following the acquittal of four Miami-Dade Police officers in the death of an African American man named Arthur McDuffie. In spite of this, Taylor loved the time he spent there.

"(Liberty City) was a diverse inner-city neighborhood with all types of people from different backgrounds," Taylor said. "We had immigrants from Cuba, Haiti and Central America coming through the clinic, which was an interesting experience after my time in Boston. I developed a heart for work and health disparities. People of certain groups did not get the same level of care, attention or sensitivity of treatment as far as 'business as usual' went. I got a notion of the importance of cultural competency and appreciation for the diversity of people. The more the American medical establishment embraces our diversity, the better. Miami taught me that."

After his time at the National Health Service Corps, Taylor spent eight years working at the University of Alabama at Birmingham before going to UMMC in 1998 after receiving an offer to run UMMC's Jackson Heart Study.

"The chance to run the Jackson Heart Study was so attractive to me because I would have the opportunity to work in an environment that was rich with opportunity for discoveries regarding disparities African Americans face and the chance to ultimately come up with innovations that would be effective in resolving those disparities.

"Mississippi is one of the country's hotspots for cardiovascular disease. If you can impact the situation here, you can do it anywhere. We're a test case for the nation. Everyone will be looking at what we do to determine the best course for other regions."

Taylor has served on the American Heart Association's Science Advisory Committee and Diversity Leadership Committee. The association named him Physician of the Year in 2008 for clinical excellence and service to the community. Taylor also holds the Shirley Chair for the Study of Health Disparities at UMMC and senior faculty positions at Jackson State University and Tougaloo College.

Taylor lives in Ridgeland with his wife, Dr. Jasmine Taylor, and three children: Matthew, Jaylen and Johnathan.