Cardiologist Dr. Heval Kelli (@hevalkellimd)

As a young Syrian Kurdish refugee washing dishes in a restaurant to  support his family, Heval Kelli could not know that many years later he  would be a distinguished fellow in cardiology at a university less than  one mile from where his journey in the United States began.  Facing a  steep language learning curve, a monthly rent payment, and mountains of  dirty dishes, Heval knew things could be much worse.  He and his family  fled persecution in Syria where his father was beaten and imprisoned by  the pol​ice. As members of the Kurdish minority, the family had few  choices and paid a smuggler to get them out.  His family arrived in  Germany in 1996 and lived in refugee camps till 2001. A circuitous route  of migration finally brought them to the United States 2 weeks after  the 9/11 where they were assisted by members of All Saints’ Episcopal  Church in their adjustment and resettlement in Clarkston, Georgia.  Through a network of caring community members, Heval was introduced to  Dr. Omar Lattouf, an Emory cardiothoracic surgeon who took an interest  in mentoring him through his undergraduate pre-med work at Georgia State  University and his admission to Morehouse School of Medicine where he  graduated cum laude and selected by his classmate as "Most Inspiring  Person" award. He finished his internal medicine residency training at  Emory University and received recognition as resident of the year as  well as honorable distinctions in social and inpatient medicine. Dr.  Kelli was awarded the Katz Foundation Fellowship in Preventative  Cardiology at Emory University where he completed his cardiology  fellowship in 2020. As a result of his life experiences, Dr. Kelli is a  steadfast advocate for serving communities in need especially immigrant,  refugee and minority communities.  He is a co-founder of several  non-profit organizations focused on medical mentorship (Young Physician  Initiative & U-Beyond) and healthcare outreach. For more info: http://www.indiereviewcd.com https://twitter.com/IndieRevue https://www.instagram.com/indie.review https://www.facebook.com/indie.review