Community News (V13-I3)

Aashira Mohammed re-elected to Pembroke Park’s commission

PEMBROKE PARK, FL–Aashira Mohammed has been re-elected as commissioner of Pembroke Park. She also serves as the Vice Mayor of Pembroke Park.  She has been running unopposed since 2003.

Dr. Syed Imam’s study shines new light on brain death in Parkinson’s patients

Researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center have made a new discovery that could hold significant implications for those who suffer from Parkinson’s disease.

The condition often includes symptoms such as memory problems, tremors, slow movement, muscle stiffness and impaired balance. An estimated 5 percent of cases can be explained by genetic mutation, but the rest have no known cause.

Lead author Syed Z. Imam and his colleagues identified a process that may be responsible in the development of the condition, as it leads to neuron death.

Blocking the activation of a protein known as tyrosine kinase c-Abl prevented it from mutating a protein known as parkin. Protecting this component reduced the formation of unprocessed clumps in the neuron, effectively stopping the development of Parkinson’s disease.

“We believe that these studies provide sound rationale for moving forward with a preclinical trial of progression of Parkinson’s,” Imam explained.tyrosine kinase c-Abl inhibitors, with the goal of developing a potent therapeutic drug for slowing the disease.

Oregon Health and Science University reports that Parkinson’s disease affects an estimated 1,500,000 individuals in the U.S.

Dr. Imam joined the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after the research was conducted. Co-authors are from the Health Science Center’s Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies; the South Texas Veterans Health Care System; and the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research in Tübingen, Germany.

Dr. Suhail Ahmad named Chief Medical Officer of Northwest Kidney Centers

Seattle, WA– Dr. Suhail Ahmad has been named Chief Medical Officer of Northwest Kidney Centers, succeeding Dr. John Stivelman, who becomes Emeritus Chief Medical Officer and Senior Medical Director.

Dr. Ahmad has served the community and patients for three decades as a physician, teacher and researcher. More than 30 years ago he traveled to Seattle from England to work under the mentorship of dialysis pioneer Dr. Belding Scribner and is considered Dr. Scribner’s closest protégé. Dr. Ahmad has a distinguished national and international reputation as a technology and therapy leader in dialysis. He is highly knowledgeable in the field, is a sought-after speaker, and has authored articles and books on dialysis therapy. He is professor of medicine at the University of Washington and has served as director of inpatient dialysis at UW Medical Center for more than two decades. Dr. Ahmad’s research focuses on dialysis technology, hypertension, volume management and, most recently, liver-kidney dialysis.

Dr. Ahmad has served as Medical Director of Northwest Kidney Centers’ Scribner Kidney Center and will remain in this role. As Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Ahmad fills many roles, including senior medical director-technology, and Kidney Research Institute director of dialysis research.

As Senior Medical Director, Dr. Stivelman will focus on professional/clinical education and public policy. A superb clinical educator with 11 years at Northwest Kidney Centers, Dr. Stivelman is passionate about teaching renal physiology, dialysis, continuous quality improvement and related topics to nephrology fellows, clinical staff, professionals in the community and others interested in the field. He will also serve as public policy liaison and advocate supporting laws, rules, and advances in the nature and delivery of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) care. He will continue as professor of medicine in the Division of Nephrology at the University of Washington and as medical director of Northwest Kidney Centers’ Broadway Kidney Center.

The nonprofit Northwest Kidney Centers keeps people in the Seattle area alive with dialysis care, educates the public about kidney health, and collaborates with UW Medicine in the Kidney Research Institute. It is one of very few community-based, nonprofit dialysis providers in the country. Founded in 1962, it was the first out-of-hospital dialysis program in the world and it is still a model in the field. Its mission remains critical. One in seven American adults now has chronic kidney disease, up 30 percent in the last decade.

Pakistani Americans serve Christmas dinner at church

STATEN ISLAND, NY–The yearly Christmas dinner hosted by the Pakistani Civic Association of Staten Island was held on Dec. 19 at the Stapleton Union American Methodist Episcopal Church.

“Most Pakistani-Americans are Muslim, they don’t celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday,” explained the group’s president, Dr. Mohammad Khalid. “[But] it’s a good way of giving back especially in the holiday season.”

The Pakistani-American community was welcomed by the church’s pastor, the Rev. Maggie Howard.

The Pakistani-American community donated enough food to serve 600 people at the third annual dinner. The three-hour event began at noon and was attended by up to 400 parishioners and people who live in the Stapleton area. Plenty of food was leftover for the church to serve later in the day.

A wide range of popular American and Italian style foods were shared.

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