Rodrigo Cerdá, M.D., MPH, Global Tastes 2024 NSC Award Honoree
Dr. Rodrigo Cerdá is this year’s NSC Award honoree. This award is presented each year to an immigrant who exemplifies the American dream, or to a strong immigrant advocate. The award will be present on October 10th at Global Tastes 2024, NSC's annual celebration of Philadelphia’s diversity, through cuisine!
In 1991, as a child, Rodrigo Cerdá immigrated to a suburb outside of Albany, NY with his family. He vividly remembers both the big family and the tears at the airport in Montevideo - a city in Uruguay - and the discovery of peanut butter and jelly and Super Mario Brothers upon his arrival in America. The contrasts were significant - city to suburb, Spanish to English, and a strong community of family and friends to a more limited network.
Though challenging, he adapted and excelled academically, earning an undergraduate degree from Yale, a graduate degree in Public Health from Harvard, and a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. As a medical student in Philadelphia, he was inspired by opportunities to serve immigrants through great institutions like Puentes de Salud.
He continued that work during internal medicine training at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston, MA, and in his clinic at MGH Chelsea, where his patients predominantly spoke Spanish and Portuguese. While building a career in healthcare in both the US and UK, Dr. Cerdá maintained positions as an attending physician and clinical instructor at Mass General and Harvard Medical School, respectively.
Now living in Fishtown with his wife and two children, Dr. Cerdá serves as the Senior Vice President, Health Services, and Chief Medical Officer at Independence Blue Cross. He leads the company’s work to bring together health insurers, hospitals, and doctors together to improve access to well-coordinated, high quality, affordable, and equitable health care to the region. The access he is helping to create extends to the immigrants and refugees served by NSC.
"We are thrilled to honor Dr. Cerdá with this year’s NSC Award,” said Margaret O’Sullivan, NSC’s Executive Director. “NSC’s work is about investing in immigrants and refugees so that their potential can be revealed. Rodrigo is a clear example of the incredible value that immigrants add to both companies and communities. That is why we are thrilled to honor him with the NSC Award.”
We hope you will join us on October 10th, to celebrate Dr. Rodrigo Cerdá and all that the immigrant community contributes to our city.
