Welcome to the Evolving Man Project’s “Evolved Man of the Week” profile. Each week we will highlight an individual that embodies what it means to be an evolved person, famous and non-famous individual alike. The world needs to know their stories and deeds. This week’s honor goes to the founder of the Heart Disease and Amputation Prevention Institute in rural Mississippi, Dr. Foluso Fakorede.
He’s making sure that all diabetics, regardless of color or class background, have access to quality health care—something hard to find in rural areas of the country. A history of diabetes in his own family was the motivation for Dr. Fakorede took to opening his practice. Peripheral artery disease is often costly for diabetic patients. Most doctors treat this with an amputation-first strategy, despite the fact that there are minimally invasive procedures that decrease the odds of amputation by 90 percent. He’s perfected that minimally-invasive medical procedure.
He also treats the whole person. He’s giving back to communities that often overlooked and cast aside quite often thanks to inspiration from Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy. A black doctor treating black patients in the rural South. Dr. Fakorede cultural background and family history give him a unique insight into the health challenges faced in the black community due to centuries of inequity and health disparities. He’s making a difference once patient at a time.
Here is Dr. Fakorede in his own words about saving patients:
Right now, diabetes is so prevalent that we’re seeing it at 40 and 50 years old. So we are going to have patients who cannot exercise and will eventually be lost to productivity in society. You see, that vicious cycle goes on and on again. They can’t afford that. Neither can we.
Today we honor as our Foluso Fakorede Evolved Man of the Week.
Evolving Man Project 