Limestone Board Of Trustees Member Dr. Rahul Mehra Honored With Lifetime Achievement Award

Rahul N. Mehra, M.D., was recently honored by the Tampa Bay Business & Wealth with the 2023 Philanthropist of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award for his service and commitment to rethinking the approach to mental health.

Mehra is a current member of the Limestone University Board of Trustees. A graduate of Gaffney High School, he created and founded Emotional Vaccines, a company that produces physician-led videos providing coaching and techniques that focus on the prevention side of mental health symptoms – specifically stress and anxiety – to lessen the probability of more detrimental future consequences such as suicide and more severe mental health diagnosis.

“These are everyday life challenges that we are not discussing with others in our inner circle and problems slowly build. Too often we diagnose and treat these symptoms after they have become a bigger problem,” said Mehra, who was born in India and immigrated with his family to Gaffney. “I am humbled and honored that Tampa Bay Business & Wealth recognizes we are a disruptor to the traditional health care model on mental health and are changemakers in our community and beyond.”

The honor was bestowed upon Mehra on November 7, 2023, at the Philanthropists of the Year Awards held in Tampa.

Mehra, whose father served as a professor at Limestone, received his Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the College of Charleston and his Doctor of Medicine from the Medical University of South Carolina. His recent community service efforts have included College of Charleston Alumni Society Executive Committee and Board of Directors, Athletes + Causes Board, Humana Tampa Bay Health Advisory, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine Alumni Society Board, Early Learning Coalition of Hillsborough County Board, and many others.

Physician videos produced by Emotional Vaccines are strategically positioned in community-based organizations and corporations and offered to parents as a support structure to stop a mental health issue before it starts. Currently, the Boys and Girls Clubs, University of South Florida College of Nursing, and Hillsborough County Public Schools in the Tampa Bay area utilize the videos.

Mehra has been in practice for more than 30 years in Florida and South Carolina. Many of those years have been spent serving children in foster care. He is currently the Medical Director for the Children’s Home Network in Tampa and is the former Medical Director of Gracepoint Wellness, Directions for Living (Pinellas), and Joshua House. Mehra has also consulted for the NFL, NFL Players Association, XFL, and Major League Baseball.

Mehra, who resides in Tampa, is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology as a Child, Adolescent and Adult Psychiatrist. He is currently the CEO/Chief Physician Executive of National Center for Performance Health (NCPH). Founded by Mehra, NCPH defines performance health as that ideal state of emotional well-being where the individual or organization has achieved full potential in relationships, business, sport, education, entertainment, and physical well-being.

His medical practice has garnered national attention from such organizations as the National Football League and Major League Baseball. His NCPH network of multi-disciplinary performance health specialists work directly with professional/collegiate/youth athletes, entertainers, K-12 schools, private businesses, healthcare professionals, attorneys, and business executives to address emotional health challenges at every age of life.