NASHVILLE, Tenn. Kafui Dzariza, MD, PhD, the first black man to graduate from Duke University with a doctorate in neurobiology and the recipient of the Duke University Presidential Award -- the highest honor given by Duke staff and faculty members -- recounted the struggles he faced breaking barriers in the first of the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance’s 2021 Lecture Series.
The renowned psychiatrist and neuroscientist -- whose other accolades include the 2007 Charles Johnson Leadership Award, the 2011 International Mental Health Research Organization Rising Star Award, the 2016 Duke Alumni Emerging Leader Award and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers -- is a crucial voice bringing people of color into healthcare, a statistic that’s sorely lacking. More than ever, minority prospective clinicians need to hear stories from others like them.
