Tallahassee, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis has announced the appointments of Dr. Zachariah Zachariah, Dr. Scott Ackerman and Dr. David Diamond to the Florida Board of Medicine. These appointments are subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.
Zachariah, of Fort Lauderdale, is a cardiologist and internal medicine doctor. He is the Medical Director at UHealth Cardiology, Fort Lauderdale and a member of the clinical faculty at the University of Miami. He also is the President of Fort Lauderdale Heart Institute in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He serves on the Florida Board of Governors of the State University system.
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, a member of the Council of 100 and 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 and as a member of the U.S. delegation to the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. He also served as Chairman of the Florida Board of Medicine from 1990-1992, 2000-2001 and 2013-2014. 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.
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 he 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, and Ellis Island Medal of Honor, Sister Innocent Hughes Award for his contribution to health and science by Holy Cross Hospital. In the past, 3 Florida Governors and the Cabinet have declared “Zachariah P. Zachariah Day” in Florida 5 times.