WASHINGTON (TIP): The White House announced the 2013-1014 class of White House Fellows August 27, a group of professionals, academics and entrepreneurs who will now use their considerable skills to help shape policy on the national level. Among them is a prominent young Indian American cardiologist who works on the cutting edge of technology and medicine. Kapil Parakh, a cardiologist at Johns Hopkins in Washington, D.C., has done extensive research on the way depression can affect patients after a heart attack. He is also the cofounder of Health for America, a nonprofit that offers fellowships to young leaders dedicated to improving the health of their communities.

According to a press release from the White House announcing this year’s 12 Fellows, Parakh is the director of Heart Failure at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and assistant professor in the departments of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Health Behavior & Society. Parakh also leads heart failure quality improvements in collaboration with the Joint Commission’s Center for Transforming Healthcare, using entrepreneurial techniques to cost-effectively improve outcomes, said a spokesperson. Parakh earned his first degree, a bachelor of science in human biology, and later an MD, at the University of Zambia; and immigrated to the United States to attend Johns Hopkins University, where he earned a Master of Public Health and a Ph.D. in epidemiology. His studies have appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the British Cardiac Society’s publication Heart, and many others.

The White House Fellows Program was created in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson to give promising American leaders “first hand, highlevel experience with the workings of the federal government, and to increase their sense of participation in national affairs,” said a spokesperson. Selection is highly competitive and based on a record of professional achievement, evidence of leadership potential, and a proven commitment to public service.