Annual Meeting 2017 was hosted in collaboration with King Edward Medical College Alumni Association of North America (KEMCAANA) on April 29th, 2017 at Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel, Marlborough, MA. It was a well-attended event with over 100 physicians and their spouses. Senior leadership of APPNA, including President Dr. Iqbal Hamid and Secretary Dr. Rizwan Khalid, also attended the event.
Dr. Ehsun Mirza, an APPNE board member, provided details of the Green School Project that helps to build schools in Thar, Pakistan. Green Schools are unique in that they are completely run on solar energy. He gave an update and how the community can continue to help this worthy cause.
Cambridge City Council member Mr. Nadeem A. Mazen was an invited speaker who spoke about his campaign and the subsequent victory. He encouraged the Muslim community members to actively participate in local political activities. Another invited speaker, Mr. Khalil James Meek, Co-Founder and Current Executive Director of Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA), spoke about legal work and programs to defend Muslims against injustice.
Our keynote speaker was Dr. Adil Haider, a trauma surgeon at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston. He was recently awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. Dr. Haider spoke about his American dream, his education in Pakistan and United States and his work on uncovering racial disparities after traumatic injuries. Audiences were enthralled by music from Mavush Shah, a singer from New York and Raaga Boyz, a popular band from Pakistan.
APPNE, in collaboration with Boston University Organization of Pakistani Students (OPF), hosted a panel discussion and networking event on healthcare careers at Boston University on November 19, 2017. It is one of APPNE’s pet projects—to reach out to high school and college students and introduce the many opportunities in the healthcare profession.
The panelists included:
– Mr. Imran Khan, Chief Technology Officer at SoftServ International Corp.
– Dr. Sonya Hasan, Owner/Dentist at Braintree Dental Group
– Dr. Kudret I. Usmani, Orthopedic Resident at Cooper Hospital, NJ
– Ms. Anisa Mohammed, Clinical Trial Leader at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research
– Dr. Omar Siddiqi, Attending Cardiologist at Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA
The discussion was moderated by Dr. Naheed Usmani, Professor of Pediatrics at UMass Memorial Medical Center. The event was attended by students of different backgrounds who showed keen interest in health-related careers. Along with the panel discussion, the event also hosted a bone marrow registry drive, led by Dr. Omar Siddiqi. Dr. Siddiqi, himself, is a bone marrow transplant recipient and has been working to increase the number of Southeast Asian bone marrow donors. APPNE has been supportive of various Pakistani-American organizations, including Pakistan Association of Greater Boston (PAGB), the Pakistani American Political Action Committee (PAKPAC), and Pakathon.
