Dr. Zach P. Zachariah of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, considered one of the nation’s leading cardiologists, has been appointed to the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Advisory Council by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar.
“I am glad to have been appointed to this important council once again, and I hope to bring my experience and expertise to the table in terms of helping to fulfil the priorities of the council and to help alleviate the rising incidence of heart, lung and blood diseases and also to advise on the disbursement of funds for research and training grants,” he told the media.
In August, Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis appointed Zachariah to the Florida Board of Medicine, thus earning him the distinction of being appointed to this board by every Republican governor since the late 1980’s.
One of most influential Indian American Republicans, Dr. Zachariah has been a longtime friend of the Bush family and served in the same NIH advisory council from 1990 to 1993, during the tenure of President George H. W. Bush. He also served as a member of the President’s advisory commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders appointed by President George W. Bush in 2001 and had served as a member of the U.S. delegation to the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.
Dr. Zachariah is the Medical Director of UHealth Cardiology, Fort Lauderdale and on the Clinical Faculty of the University of Miami. He also is the President of Fort Lauderdale Heart Institute in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He has been practicing interventional Cardiology at Holy Cross Hospital since 1976 and as its Director of Cardiovascular services till 2010.
He serves on the executive committee of the Board of Trustees of Nova Southeastern University. He is a member of the Council of 100 and serves as a member of the National Board of ExcelinED in action. He had served on the Florida Board of Governors of the State University system from 2003 to 2010 and as its chairman of the Trustee Committee.
He has also served on the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health. He also served as Chairman of the Florida Board of Medicine from 1990-1992, 2000-2001 and 2013-2014.
Dr. Zachariah is board-certified in internal medicine and cardiology and specializes in cardiology, cardiac catheterization, and interventional cardiology and has performed more than 30,000 heart catheterizations and interventional procedures in Broward County. He has also co-authored several scientific papers, and participated in various clinical trials.
He received his medical degree from the Armed Forces Medical College in India, and then completed his residency at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson, New Jersey. He also completed a fellowship in interventional cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic Educational Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio.
Among the awards Zachariah has received include the Ellis Island American Legend Award, the Child Advocate of the Year Award, Father of the Year Award, Spirit of Life Award from City of Hope, the Golden Heart Award from the American Heart Association, Freedom Foundation Medal of Honor from the Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and the Sister Innocent Hughes Award for his contribution to health and science by Holy Cross Hospital.
