Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Grand Dunes Golf Course

1580 Terra Verde Drive

Myrtle Beach, SC 29579

Elijah Saunders,

M.D., F.A.C.C., F.A.C.P., F.A.H.A.

Dr. Elijah Saunders is a Professor of Medicine, Head, Section of Hypertension in the Division of Cardiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland. He also serves as Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. He is Vice President for Graduate Medical Education and Affiliations at the University of Maryland Hospital.

Dr. Saunders received his Medical Degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and his Bachelor of Science Degree from Morgan State College. He completed both his Residency in Internal Medicine and a Fellowship in Cardiology at the University of Maryland Hospital in Baltimore.

Dr. Saunders has received the American Heart Association’s Award of Merit, Louis B. Russell Award (highest award for contribution to cardiovascular minority health) and the Presidential Award from the Maryland Affiliate. He was honored by the Association of Black Cardiologists in conjunction with the National Medical Association in 2003 as the “Cardiologist of the Year”. He is a Fellow of the American Heart Association, member of the AHA Council on Clinical Cardiology and a Fellow of the Council on High Blood Pressure Research. He has served on all levels of both the national and local American Heart Associations. He has also served on numerous panels, study groups, site visit groups and committees including the Advisory Council of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. He is an active researcher in the field of hypertension and cardiovascular disease, especially as these problems affect African Americans. He is a chartered member and a steering committee member of the Maryland Heart, Hypertension and Kidney Center.

Dr. Saunders is a founding member, past Chairman of the Board member, and past President of the Association of Black Cardiologists. He is also a co-founder, past President and past Chairman of the Board of the International Society on Hypertension in Blacks (I.S.H.I.B).  Another organization founded by Dr. Saunders, is the (former) Baltimore Urban Cardiology Research Center, Inc. He is a co-founder of Heart House of the American College of Cardiology and is a chartered member of the American Society of Hypertension and serves on its Executive Council.  He is a chartered member of the Coalition of Southeastern Hypertension Centers (C.O.S.E.H.C).  Locally, he has served as Chairman of the Maryland High Blood Pressure Coordinating Council and a Commissioner of the Maryland High Blood Pressure Commission. He is immediate past chairman of the Maryland Advisory Council on Heart Disease and Stroke.

A Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, American College of Physicians, American Heart Association Council on High Blood Pressure Research and the American College of Angiology and a certified specialist in Clinical Hypertension (American Society of Hypertension, Dr. Saunders has lectured extensively throughout the country and internationally, on hypertension, especially in special populations, such as, Blacks, elderly and those with concomitant diseases.  He national Chairman of C.O.A.C.H. (Coalition for the Advancement of Cardiovascular Health), a series of C.M.E. educational programs, sponsored by the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

He is co-author of the medical textbook, Hypertension in Blacks: Epidemiology, Pathophysiology and Treatment, and a book for the public on High Blood Pressure. He is Chief Editor of the textbook, Cardiovascular Diseases in Blacks. He is also co-author of the “Handbook of Management of Hypertension in African Americans”. He has appeared on numerous radio, TV, video taped programs, internet programs and has written extensively for numerous medical journals, textbooks, consumer magazines on the diagnosis, treatment and control of hypertension, particularly in Black populations. He a reviewer for several hypertension publications and serves on their editorial boards.

In 1996-1997, Dr. Saunders took Sabbatical leave from the University of Maryland to do research in England, studying dietary salt, salt sensitivity and hypertension in an African Caribbean population. In May 1998, Dr. Saunders was awarded the (Honorary) Doctor of Science degree from his undergraduate Alma Mater, Morgan State University. In May of 1999 he was awarded an (Honorary) Doctor of Science degree from the Medical University of South Carolina.  A Hypertension Professorship and Academic Chair is being developed in recognition of his work at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

During his “spare-time”, Dr. Saunders enjoys tennis, golf and plays the violin. He is the founder of the University of Maryland Medical Center Chamber Players.

He is married to Sharon Saunders, M.D., a geriatrician and is the father of three adult children and two step-children. He serves on the Board of Directors of his church and is the founder of his church’s scholarship fund. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the (Baltimore) Hippodrome Foundation, Inc and formerly the (Baltimore) Central Scholarship Committee.