Surgical excellence in service to every heart.

In May 2026, Dr. Antoine Keller became Professor and Chief of the Division of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. A milestone moment for the University and for the State. The first Black surgeon to hold the chair in the institution's complex and notable history. He arrives with a conviction built over twenty-five years in the operating rooms and church halls of the Gulf South: that excellence in care and ensuring equity in who reaches care are one vocation, not two.

A university heart program for the state.

The Division of Cardiac Surgery at UMMC is Mississippi's only academic cardiac surgical program — a service whose quality has earned The Society of Thoracic Surgeons' three-star rating, the society's highest, placing the program among the top tier nationally. Dr. Keller's conviction as chief is to build on that excellence: growing the surgical team, deepening subspecialty capacity across valve, aortic, and advanced heart failure care, and building the academic engine for research, residents, and fellows.

 Understand UMMC’s critical role in the state.

The Jackson Heart Study (JHS), launched in 2000, is the largest single-site, longitudinal investigation of cardiovascular disease and its causes in African Americans. The Jackson Heart Study supports UMMC's three-part mission to provide medical education, research, and care to Mississippians. For more than two decades, the study has produced foundational research on the genetic, environmental, and social drivers of cardiovascular health — building an enduring legacy that informs clinical care, public policy, and prevention efforts nationwide. The population the study follows is the population UMMC serves, and the population HeartSense screens.

Dig deeper into the data

The Heart of Health Equity.

Dr. Keller founded HeartSense in 2020, on a simple observation: the people carrying the heaviest burden of heart disease were the people the system was least likely to find. HeartSense actively engages the community in churches, campuses, community halls — and brings screening, and a pathway to care, to those who may not otherwise receive the time and attention they need. HeartSense is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Understand the HeartSense mission and how you can contribute to reaching the community

The Long and Circuitous Path to the Chair.

Dr. Keller has been traveling toward the chair in Jackson, geographically and figuratively speaking, for most of his life.

Dr. Keller’s path ran through Nairobi, where a Peace Corps mathematician taught a five-year-old to love a hard problem. Through Addis Ababa, where a boy learned early what it means when systems fail the people inside them. Through Berkeley, where a biology teacher's nomination opened the door to medicine; through UCLA; through Duke on a Dean's scholarship; through Tulane, training under Dr. Watts Webb — who had stood beside James Hardy at the operation that opened the modern era of transplantation. Through Charlotte, and then “home”: Lafayette, Baton Rouge, and the Gulf South communities. Jackson, and this Chair role at UMMC, is the next step in Dr. Keller’s journey of surgical excellence – in service to every heart, every community — and now closer to home.

– Professor and Chief, Division of Cardiac Surgery, University of Mississippi Medical Center (2026– )

– Founder & President, HeartSense, Inc. (2020– )

– Fellow, American College of Surgeons (2005) · Fellow, American College of Cardiology (2019) — a pairing rarely held by a single surgeon

– Prior leadership: Chief of Surgery roles, Cardiovascular & Thoracic Specialists of Baton Rouge; St. Dominic's Cardiovascular Associates, Jackson · Cardiovascular Institute of the South; Ochsner Lafayette General

– Training: Duke University School of Medicine (Dean's Scholar) · General Surgery, Tulane (under Dr. Watts Webb) · Cardiothoracic Surgery, Carolinas Medical Center · Robicsek Traveling Fellowship, Lahr, Germany

– Memberships: Society of Thoracic Surgeons · Association of Black Cardiologists · Association of Black Cardiothoracic Surgeons

– President's Lifetime Achievement Award (2025)

View Dr. Keller's LinkedIn profile 

View Dr. Keller's Full CV 

The HeartSense screening model pairs Dr. Keller’s expertise and rigor with an FDA-cleared, AI-enabled digital stethoscope: an intelligent triage that decides, in seconds and at negligible cost, who needs the echocardiogram that confirms cardiovascular disease. It is a two-step paradigm — listen first, image second — designed so the gold standard can reach those who need it most. Those in whom a finding is detected:

·  Reaching more  Black and Brown people, demonstrating increased prevalence.

·  Reaching more women, safely. Published findings from the ALERT Trial (JACC, 2026) established the approach's clinical footing.

·  The innovative technology facilitates extended reach into the community via the church, the campus, the community hall — is what makes this sustainable and noteworthy.

Eko Health (SENSORA™)  -  Tempus  -  ALERT Trial (JACC)

Support Dr. Keller’s Work Through HeartSense.

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Join Dr. Keller in his endeavor of health equity – HeartSense, research, and more.