DISTINGUISHED ARMENIAN-AMERICAN HEALTH PROFESSIONALS TO CONVENE IN NY
By Florence Avakian

AZG Armenian Daily
26/06/2009

Science

A 16-year-old athlete from Englewood, N.J., falls on the baseball
field and injures his knee. He is taken to the nearby hospital where a
stat MRI is performed. Thank Dr. Raymond Damadian, inventor of the MRI
(magnetic resonance imaging), who will be attending and speaking at the
Armenian Medical World Congress at New York’s Hilton Hotel, July 1-4.

A father needs immediate bowel surgery and doesn’t want to miss his
daughter’s wedding. Famed surgeon Lord Ara Darzi KBE does robotic
surgery from his London office. Professor Darzi, parliamentary
under-secretary of state and government spokesperson for the UK
Department of Health, will attend, speak, and be honored at the
medical congress.

A young mother of three in Los Angeles has postpartum
depression. Acclaimed psychiatrist Hagop Akiskal treats this
patient. Dr. Akiskal will attend and speak at the medical congress.

A 73-year-old grandfather in New York, on his way to his grandson’s
high school graduation, develops severe abdominal pain. He is rushed
to Lenox Hill Hospital where vascular surgeon Dr. Vicken Pamoukian
operates on him. Dr. Pamoukian will attend and speak at the medical
congress.

Speakers to relay latest medical information Dr. Damadian who captured
world attention as the inventor of the MRI (magnetic resonance
imaging), is among the distinguished plenary speakers on Friday July
3. He will discuss current MRI innovations. His work also involved
collaborating in the development of an MRI-compatible pacemaker. He has
won numerous awards, including induction into the National Inventors
Hall of Fame in 1989.

Lord Darzi is one of the world’s leading surgeons at the Imperial
College London, where he holds the Hamlyn Chair of Surgery. He
specializes in minimally invasive and robot-assisted surgery, and
has pioneered many new techniques and technologies. He was awarded
a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II for his service to medicine and
surgery, and subsequently elevated to the peerage in 2007. He will
speak at the congress on healthcare delivery in Great Britain on
Thursday, July 2, and on robotic surgery on Friday, July 3.

Dr. Akiskal, a noted psychiatrist, is best known for his research on
temperamental and bipolar disorder (manic depression). He served as
the senior science advisor at the Institute of Mental Health from 1990
to 1994, before going to the University of California San Diego where
he currently is a professor of psychiatry. He is regarded as today’s
leading conceptual thinker in the area of bipolar subtyping. He is
scheduled to speak at a morning symposium on Saturday, July 4.

Dr. Pamoukian, a prominent vascular surgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital
in New York City, is experienced in all areas of complex endovascular
surgery, including thoracic, abdominal aneurysms, as well as carotid,
peripheral, and renal stenting. He will be among the speakers in a
group discussion on Friday afternoon, July 3, covering various topics
on surgical subspecialties.

These medical professionals are among the many distinguished doctors,
their families, and interested laypeople who will be attending the
Armenian Medical World Congress, hosted by the Armenian American
Health Professionals Organization (AAHPO), at New York’s Hilton Hotel.

Scheduled are plenary sessions on Comparative Health Care Systems,
Innovations in Medicine, and symposia on Tele-Medicine, and Diaspora
Issues, as well as a Sub-Specialty day on July 1 covering such topics
as anesthesia, dentistry, mental health, nursing, ophthalmology,
pediatrics, and physical therapy.

Notable attendees will include the health ministers of Armenia and
Karabagh, the rector of Yerevan State Medical University, the director
of the National Medical Library of Armenia, as well as Armenia’s
diaspora minister, and co-chair of the Congressional Armenian Caucus,
Rep. Frank Pallone, among many others.

In addition to the medical symposia and meetings, the four-day special
event will feature a dinner cruise on a luxurious yacht on Thursday,
July 2, and a gala banquet in the Hilton Hotel’s main ballroom on
July 4 where Lord Darzi, and the father and son humanitarian and
Medical Outreach team of Nazar Nazarian and Dr. Levon Nazarian will be
honored. Also of great interest will be a bus trip to the Metropolitan
Museum of Art to view a magnificent khachkar on loan from Armenia.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress