Long Beach City College (LBCC) alumnus Dr. Jean-Bernard Durand received during a virtual ceremony on September 10 the 2020 Outstanding Alumni Award from the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the primary advocacy organization for the nation’s community colleges. Dr. Durand is one of four community college alumni from across the country chosen to receive the honor this year. 

Dr. Durand graduated from LBCC with an Associate of Arts degree in 1980. During his time at LBCC, he received the LBCC Outstanding Student Award, the Outstanding Scholar Award, and won first place in the National French Competition. He received his bachelor’s degrees in Physiology and Chemistry from California State University, Long Beach in 1984.  He went on to receive his medical degree in 1988 from the Medical College of Wisconsin.   

Dr. Durand is currently the Medical Director of Cardiomyopathy Services, the Director of Cardiovascular Genetics Research, and the Cardiology Fellowship Program Director at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX.  

As a faculty member and researcher, Dr. Durand revolutionized the study of the relationship between cardiovascular disease and cancer. His research seeks to understand the molecular genetics of cardiomyopathy, and he launched the first program specifically designed to manage chemotherapy-induced cardiovascular complications.  

Dr. Durand established the world’s largest database of DNA from patients with heart failure secondary to chemotherapy and has future plans to perform genotyping to identify genes that indicate risk for heart failure linked to chemotherapy.  

He is a frequent contributor to leading medical journals, and his honors include being named “America’s Top Cardiologist,” MD Anderson’s “Best Teacher,” and one of “Houston’s Top Doctors.” Dr. Durand currently serves as a volunteer for an inner-city high school football team and on the board of directors of the Houston French Society.   

Dr. Durand continues to support LBCC to this day. LBCC recognized his professional accomplishments and altruism by inducting him into the LBCC Alumni Hall of Fame in 2001.