Richard Goulah, MD

More than 30 years into his career, Richard Goulah, MD ’82, an attending cardiologist at St. Patrick Hospital’s highly decorated International Heart Institute (IHI) in Missoula, MT, has grown to enjoy and appreciate his profession more and more with each year that passes.

“I’ve really fallen in love with what I do,” Dr. Goulah said. “I really enjoy sitting down and talking to patients, not only about their illness but just communicating with them. The last five or six years have been just spectacular. It’s been the pinnacle of my career.”

Since 2009, he’s been part of an institution that has been recognized nationally. Truven Health Analytics named the IHI one of the top 50 heart hospitals in the country in 2013, a list reserved for facilities with superior survival rates, the shortest hospitals stays, and the fewest complications and readmissions. Dr. Goulah specializes in diagnostic and nuclear cardiology, echocardiology, cardiac CT, pacemaker implants, and treating critical care patients.

In addition, he is an attending cardiologist at St. James Hospital in Butte, MT, and clinical instructor in the University of Washington Department of Medicine’s cardiology division as well as a full-time staff member in the Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences in the University of Montana’s Skaggs School of Pharmacy. Pharmaceutical students rotate with Dr. Goulah on a weekly basis, and he is exploring the possibility of establishing a two-year pharmacy cardiovascular fellowship at St. Patrick.

Born and raised in Niagara Falls, NY, Dr. Goulah obtained his Bachelor of Science in biology from Niagara University in 1976 before enrolling at St. George’s University. He was a member of the 1982 graduating class at SGU, when foreign medical school graduates were still a foreign idea to US hospitals.

“SGU gave me everything I needed to go out and practice and compete with everybody,” Dr. Goulah said. “We were all hard-nosed and really wanted to be doctors, and SGU gave us that opportunity.”

After graduating, he completed his internal medicine residency at St. Michael’s Medical Center in Newark, NJ, before spending the majority of his medical career in South Boston, VA. From 1987 to 2007, he served as an attending cardiologist at Halifax Regional Hospital, a 192-bed facility with more than 100 physicians representing 28 specialties on staff. Dr. Goulah also spent a decade as chairman of the hospital’s Department of Medicine and headed the facility’s board of directors from 1992 to 2007.

In addition, Dr. Goulah founded and presided over the Halifax Heart Center, which addresses everything from congenital heart defects and heart failure to echocardiography and stress testing, and he was the longtime president and board member for Medical and Surgical Associates of South Boston. He is also dedicated to clinical research, having maintained a longtime relationship with Duke University – at which he has been on the faculty since 1994 – the Duke Clinical Research Institute, the Duke University Cooperative Cardiovascular Society, and International Heart Institute Foundation. He is board-certified in cardiovascular diseases, internal medicine and nuclear cardiology.

Richard Feldstein, MD, MSc

As a native of Montreal, Dr. Richard Feldstein spent much of his academic life at prestigious Canadian universities, applying his natural affinity for the sciences toward a degree in research. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry from Concordia University, he then received a Master of Science from McGill University in experimental medicine, a division of the Department of Medicine. In between his studies, he volunteered at various research labs and local hospitals in the area.

As he immersed himself in the field of research, Dr. Feldstein realized his talents would be best suited in another area of expertise. Wanting to experience the more personal side of medicine that is interacting directly with patients, Dr. Feldstein altered his course and began the process of applying to medical schools. The application deadlines for Canadian and US schools had passed, and he did not want to postpone his aspirations any longer. Eager to embark on his new career path, Dr. Feldstein began to research foreign medical schools.

Dr. Feldstein began an email correspondence with two students who were attending St. George’s University School of Medicine (SGUSOM) in Grenada, and was impressed by their positive feedback. Upon further research, Dr. Feldstein discovered that some McGill University faculty members in the Department of Nutrition taught as visiting professors at St. George’s University—and that these professors were working one floor above him at the research laboratory. Without hesitation, he approached the professors with a plethora of questions about the University, and valued their impression of St. George’s. “These professors had nothing but great things to say about SGU,” Dr. Feldstein recalls. “They said the School and the facilities were outstanding and on par with, if not better than, other medical schools in the US and Canada.”

Dr. Feldstein began his medical studies at SGUSOM in 1998. “When I got to Grenada, I was so impressed—more so than I expected. I couldn’t believe what they had created.” Dr. Feldstein continued to say that the University provided everything a medical student could possibly need: state-of-the-art facilities, excellent faculty, great educational and support services. He also said that the school provides all the tools necessary to succeed; the key is to use each and every one of them.

Of course, the exquisite surroundings were also enticing. As a PADI certified open-water diver, Dr. Feldstein also had an appreciation for the natural beauty of the Island. “Grenada is such a pleasant place. The people are kind, polite and wonderful. I was happy to be there, and really enjoyed the experience.”

Dr. Feldstein completed his clinical training at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. “It was a great hospital that had everything I needed. It was very pro-student and I learned a lot.”

After he graduated from SGUSOM in 2002, Dr. Feldstein went on to do his residency in internal medicine at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center; University Hospital of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. He began his residency training with three other SGU graduates. The year prior, only one SGUSOM graduate was accepted into the program. Since then, an increasing number of SGU graduates have joined the program. The department of medicine liked the quality, caliber and strong work ethic of the SGUSOM graduates. “They liked what SGU was producing as doctors,” he said.

Dr. Feldstein was then appointed as one of five chief medical residents at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center. “That year, two of the five chief residents were SGU graduates,” he said. During that time, one of his responsibilities was to interview prospective applicants to the medicine program. “I began interviewing both American and foreign students, including SGUSOM applicants. The students from SGU were equally strong and competitive as compared to the American applicants in regards to grades, board scores and letters of recommendation. They were just as good, if not better.”

Dr. Feldstein is currently a senior fellow in the Department of Gastroenterology at North Shore University Hospital; a teaching hospital for New York University Medical School. He is also a clinical instructor for the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Sciences in New York City. “Everything I’ve ever wanted in my career I’ve gotten, and I have St. George’s to thank for that.”

Published December 2009

Rekha Hanvesakul, MD

Growing up in Thailand, Dr. Rekha Hanvesakul attended an international school in the late 1980s. It was during this time that she saw an advertisement for St. George’s University. After finishing her studies at the international school, she traveled to the United States and received her undergraduate degree from Northern Arizona University. She then applied to St. George’s University School of Medicine.

“Attending St. George’s University was such an interesting experience,” Rekha recalls. “I met people from all parts of the world. It was a very different experience from attending a school in one state (as in her undergraduate career). There were many different cultures and many different foods—not to mention the balmy weather.”

Rekha completed her clinical rotations in New York and her residency in internal medicine at Booth Memorial Medical Center, now New York Hospital of Queens. After completing additional postgraduate training in the United States, Rekha returned to Thailand. St. George’s University is on the “Recognized Universities List” maintained by the Thai Medical Association and as a result, she was eligible to sit for the Thai licensing examinations. Before sitting for these exams she spent three months doing an observership in a local hospital to get accustomed to the style of medicine practiced in Thailand as well as brush up on her Thai language skills after having been away for so long.

Now practicing internal medicine at BNH Hospital in Bangkok, Rekha is also an advisor at the hospital’s international travel medicine clinic where she gives travel advice to local people, expatriates, and foreigners. She tells them what to look out for when traveling to certain countries—what vaccines they may need, what preventative medicine they need to take, which diseases are a problem in which countries, and how to stay healthy when traveling.

Dr. Rekha Hanvesakul also commented on how much the University has grown and matured since she was there in the early 1990s. “They didn’t have the new buildings then and the library was small in comparison to what students have today, but I know the education I received there was very good and compares favorably to the experiences of other doctors I have met throughout the world.  I really learned a lot—both educationally and culturally—and am proud to be a St. George’s graduate.”

Published January 2011

Peter Prieto, MD

By the time Peter Prieto, MD ’06, completes his surgical oncology fellowship at the prestigious University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston in 2017, he will have spent more than 15 years in training between medical school, residency, and fellowships at the National Cancer Institute, and MD Anderson. However, cancer is that complex, that prevalent, and for a man who has lost his father to the disease, that important to him.

While most of his fellow SGU alumni finished their postgraduate training long ago, Dr. Prieto will have navigated “arguably the most difficult route in surgery.” With the skills and knowledge he has gained, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“The path is difficult and it’s long,” Dr. Prieto said. “I think the fact that you still enjoy something despite it being so difficult is proof that it’s something that you really love. To this day, the best treatment for curing cancer, down to every last cancer cell, is surgery, and there is no better feeling than removing a tumor from a patient’s body and rendering them cancer-free.”

Dr. Prieto’s interest in surgical oncology stems from his father’s battle with sarcoma in 1999, his senior year as an anthropology major at Stony Brook University in New York. It wasn’t long before his father passed. “That motivated me to go to med school,” Dr. Prieto said.

He learned of St. George’s University from a family friend who had graduated from SGU. Although he hadn’t been outside the country for more than 10 days, Dr. Prieto seized the opportunity to start his medical education. “SGU gave me a shot,” he said. “At that point, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a surgeon; I just knew I wanted to treat cancer.”

Dr. Prieto is now in the second year of a three-year complex general surgical oncology fellowship at MD Anderson, a 654-bed facility that US News & World Report ranked as the number one adult cancer treatment center in the country in 2015, the 12th time in the last 14 years it has earned that distinction. His route there included two years in a general surgery residency program at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, and three more years completing immunotherapy and surgical oncology fellowships at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD, where he served as associate investigator for several of the surgery branch’s research endeavors under the mentorship of Dr. Steven A. Rosenberg.

At each stop, Dr. Prieto is reminded of the importance of his work. With one particular patient at NCI, melanoma had metastasized to his spine and liver. However, he and his team were able to procure tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) from a hepatic lesion, grow them in-vitro, and prepare them for re-infusion by way of adoptive cell therapy.

“The patient’s TIL grew like wildfire, yet before we could even give them back to the patient, his tumors miraculously began to melt away,” Dr. Prieto said. “That showed me the power of the immune system, a spontaneous regression, which got me interested in immunotherapy of solid organ malignancies in particular.”

After his NCI fellowships, Dr. Prieto went on to Yale-New Haven Hospital to complete his residency, serving as chief resident in his final year. Upon completing his training at MD Anderson, Dr. Prieto hopes to obtain a position at an academic medical center, treating mainly melanoma, endocrine, and breast cancer. Whether it’s near home in the northeast or elsewhere, practicing at “the best academic center I can” is his top priority.

His journey in medicine began at SGU, and he encourages others to use the same opportunity as a launching pad to their own careers.

“If you’re going abroad for your medical education, SGU without question has the best reputation. It’s the only place you want to go,” Dr. Prieto said.  “The people I met on campus and in class are still some of my best friends. The classes were challenging, but we were prepared to do well on the boards, and during clinicals I felt on par with students from US schools.”

Published November 2015

Peminda Cabandugama, MD

Type 2 diabetes runs in Peminda Cabandugama’s family. The disease claimed his father, who passed away due to complications from an infection in his leg in 2007. As the affliction is genetic and could ultimately affect both he and his children, Dr. Cabandugama, a 2011 graduate of St. George’s University School of Medicine, is tackling the problem head on.

Dr. Cabandugama currently serves as an endocrinology fellow at University of Missouri Health Care, a regional top hospital in diabetes and endocrinology according to US News and World Report that is home to the Cosmopolitan International Diabetes and Endocrinology Center.

Dr. Cabandugama recalls being “overjoyed” upon learning that he had matched with his top-choice fellowship.

“It was amazing,” he said. “I felt so accomplished when I found out that I had matched at such a prestigious institution—my first choice—that I actually just had to sit back and let things sink in for a few moments.”

With his background in genetic research from his stint at the renowned Mayo Clinic, where he conducted research during his undergraduate years at Winona State University, it has been a natural fit. Dr. Cabandugama earned his Bachelor of Science in cell and molecular biology and allied health with a minor in biochemistry from Winona State in 2006, graduating with summa cum laude honors. When it came time to choosing a medical school, he sought the advice of his cousin, Dr. Mahesh Bandara, who graduated from SGU in 2001 and is currently practicing pulmonology in Maine. Thanks to his counsel as well as a prestigious International Peace Scholarship from SGU, Dr. Cabandugama enrolled in the January 2007 class.

Having grown up on a tropical island, the adjustment to the Caribbean climate and culture was easy. Outside the classroom, he enjoyed a lively atmosphere surrounding another passion of his—cricket—serving as vice captain for an area team consisting of locals and SGU students. He also felt right at home on a campus that has welcomed students from around the world.

“Strangers aren’t strangers for long at SGU,” said Dr. Cabandugama. “Everybody becomes family. You meet people from all over the world, and they have a difference in opinions not only about medicine but about life. It really means a lot to have that cross-cultural, global discourse.”

That exposure has served him well in the melting pot that is New York City. He spent six years at Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center in Brooklyn, a borough known for its tremendously diverse population. Dr. Cabandugama completed the majority of his clinical rotations at Woodhull, and was pleased to match with an internal medicine residency there in 2011. He was named chief resident for the 2014-2015 academic year.

“The amount of support is fantastic, especially by the PD, Dr. Susan Grossman, and I learned so much from all the residents, both past and present,” Dr. Cabandugama said. “It also helped that I had a lot of exposure to the hospital early on in my medical career and am knowledgeable about the hospital as a whole. Compounded with all my experiences here, it has become a second home for me which is why I think the residents embraced me a lot more as chief.”

He welcomed the opportunity to continue his career in the world of endocrinology at Missouri, where he uses the knowledge and leadership skills he has developed since early on in his medical career.

“My medical journey through SGU and Woodhull has brought me to where I am now and made me a capable physician,” Dr. Cabandugama said. “With this endocrinology fellowship, I’m able to further genetic research in type 2 diabetes and provide better service for those affected by it.”

Published March 2015

Paul Vallone, MD

For nearly 25 years, Paul Vallone, MD ’81, owned and operated a cosmetic surgery practice that had three locations throughout the State of New Jersey. He retired in 2009 but has immersed himself in a new career—mayor of the Borough of Far Hills in New Jersey—that has him utilizing the same skills he learned as a medical student and professional.

“When you go to medical school, you’re taught to be thorough, to analyze, interpret a problem, gather facts, and then make a decision,” Mayor Vallone said. “You act in the best interest of the patient. The qualities you acquire in medical school and through your residency work hand in hand with politics. You’re really doing a diagnosis of a problem affecting a community, and as a politician, it’s incumbent upon you to gather the facts, weigh the pros and cons, and decide on what is the best option.”

“It’s also very clear to me that medicine is not an island unto itself,” he added. “It is affected by the politics around us greatly.

Mayor Vallone enrolled at St. George’s University School of Medicine as part of its charter class. He completed his general practice residency at Brooklyn Hospital before accepting a two-year plastic surgery fellowship at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, NJ.

“The St. George’s experience was one of the greatest in my life; I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” Mayor Vallone said. “The four years at St. George’s certainly helped me grow as a person because it teaches you to be collaborative and it gives you a bigger, broader picture of what the world is.”

In 1986, he opened his own practice, Paul J. Vallone, MD, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, where he performed cosmetic and reconstructive surgery for 23 years. During that time he also served as chairman of the Department of Plastic Surgery at St. Clare’s Hospital in Denville, NJ, and chief of surgery at Newton Hospital in Newton, NJ.

Mayor Vallone’s first foray into politics came when he was elected to the Far Hills (NJ) Borough Council in 2010. Later that year, he ran for mayor of Far Hills, a community of 919 residents according to the 2010 United States Census, and received 94 percent of the vote.

“I’m proud that people voted for me and believe I’m the best person for the job,” said Mayor Vallone, who also serves on the Legislative Committee for the State of New Jersey. “It’s a job that brings many new and different challenges, and as a result of that, it makes you grow as a person. As you go through life, from one career to another, the ultimate thing is to continue to grow as a person, to continue to interact with the people in the community, and to do something for the benefit of the community.

He also said that should an opportunity to run for a higher office, whether for New Jersey General Assembly or the State Senate, arise in the future, he would entertain it.

“There are a lot of moving parts with that kind of decision and a lot of additional commitments, but if the opportunity presents itself to move to the next level, I would consider it without question,” Mayor Vallone said.

He will always take with him the international education and experience he received at St. George’s University.

“St. George’s enhanced my ability to see the bigger picture, to listen to people better and to process different points of view,” Mayor Vallone said. “In medicine, that is invaluable because it gets you to think outside the box. There are the common diagnoses, but maybe you have to think in a different way for a particular patient. The same can be said about situations you’ll face in politics. The experience at St. George’s is a tremendous growth opportunity in which students receive an excellent medical education that enhances your personal view of the world.”

Paul Brisson, MD, MS, FACS, FAAP

Dr. Paul Brisson is the Chairman of Surgery at the new Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine in Auburn, AL. It’s a position he holds after having spent 20 years in private practice in Schenectady, NY, as well as a nine-year stint with the United States Army.

Dr. Brisson came to St. George’s University from East Tennessee University, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science in environmental health. He then accepted a position as an Environmental Health Officer with the Indian Health Service, where he served for nearly two years prior to entering SGU. Upon graduating, Dr. Brisson was accepted into a rotating internship at St. Michael’s Medical Center in Newark, NJ, and then into a general surgery residency at Lincoln Medical Center in the Bronx, NY.

Upon completion of his residency, Dr. Brisson joined a private practice in Schenectady, serving as Chief of Trauma and Chief of Surgery. During those 20 years, Dr. Brisson took leave on two occasions, completing a two-year pediatric surgery fellowship in 1999 at the Floating Hospital for Children in Boston, and also to obtain a Master of Science from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2006.

That same year, Dr. Brisson joined the US Army Reserves, and in 2008, he left his private practice to go on active duty with the US Army, assigned to Fort Belvoir Army Hospital in Virginia. Over a nine-year Army career, Dr. Brisson was deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq four times.

In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Brisson’s research interests include general surgery, trauma surgery, global surgery, pediatric surgery, wound care, patient safety, and medical education.

Published August 2009

 

Parin Makadia, MD

In 2002, Parin Makadia, MD ’07, had lived at home all his life—through his upbringing in India and then during his undergraduate and graduate years in New Jersey. Thus, when it came time to pack up and move to Grenada for his first term at St. George’s University School of Medicine, he was apprehensive about what lay ahead.

Now a nephrologist with Dallas Renal Group (DRG) in Texas, Dr. Makadia is thankful for the education he received, the people he met, and the new culture he experienced during his time on the Spice Isle.

“When you get to Grenada, right from the get-go you meet people and a very strong bond is formed,” he said. “It becomes a very solid support structure and comes to a point where you don’t even feel like you’re away from home. It’s one of the reasons I am in the position I am in today. The strong friendship that my friends and I created on the island is invaluable.”

He is part of a practice that 10 years ago was comprised of just two physicians but has grown into a 19-physician group. Together they treat a wide range of renal disorders, from kidney disease and kidney stones to hypertension and electrolyte disturbances.

DRG is looking to expand even more in the coming years. Dr. Makadia hopes to draw from both his areas of expertise—medicine and business—to help the practice accomplish that goal. He earned his Master of Business Administration from Seton Hall University in 2002. Dr. Makadia encourages current and future physicians to bolster their business backgrounds for that reason.

“It’s important for doctors to understand the language of business, and to know ways to market and network and make things more efficient,” Dr. Makadia said. “The processes that I learned in business school have definitely helped me position myself within my group itself. I feel more comfortable making certain business decisions that are key to our success.”

He credits St. George’s University for his own development as a doctor. His impression of the University was only confirmed by the many of his Seton Hall colleagues, who had enrolled at SGU while he attended business school.

“The reason I chose St. George’s University and why it was my first choice is the solid track record of producing successful physicians, students’ success in the USMLE, and favorable residency and fellowship results,” Dr. Makadia said.

After his two basic science years in Grenada, he completed his clinical rotations at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in New Jersey before his residency and nephrology and hypertension fellowship at the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ).  The collective experience set him up to join Dallas Renal Group in August 2012.

With a growing number of renal disease cases nationwide, particularly those related to hypertension, Dr. Makadia looks forward to addressing those issues in a clinical setting. He also tackles medicine over the airwaves, joining another SGU grad, Samir Nangia, MD ’06, in hosting a weekly radio show titled “Doc Talk Live” on an area radio station and DocTalkLive.com. The SGU duo welcomes area specialists to talk about a variety of pertinent medical topics while also taking listeners’ phone calls.

Even if medicine wasn’t the original plan, Dr. Makadia says that there’s nothing he would rather be doing than helping those in his community. He’s proud to say that his career took flight at St. George’s University, his home away from home.

“My experience at SGU was nothing but positive.”

Published March 2015

Nandini Nair, PhD, MD, FSVM, FACC, FACP

Transplant cardiologist Nandini Nair, MD ’00, routinely sees the impact of her work—not only on her team’s patients but their families. With a new heart, patients get a new lease on life.

“The best part about transplant cardiology is that we give many people a second chance,” said Dr. Nair, the Director of Advanced Heart Failure, Transplant, and ECMO Services at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. “Some of them have kids who go on to college, and our patients have been able to see all those good things happen. As a physician, it feels good to provide this service and the opportunity to deliver advanced cardiac care for members of our community.”

Dr. Nair was born in India but lived throughout Africa growing up, residing in Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, and finally Tanzania, where she graduated high school. She went on to earn her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in zoology from the University of Madras in India, and then her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in biochemistry from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, one of the premier institutes in Asia for training scientific and engineering professionals. Subsequently, she moved to the United States for her postdoctorate fellowship in molecular virology at UMass Medical Center, pursuing a full-time career in basic science research.

In the interim, her mother’s untimely death secondary to an iatrogenic error redirected her career focus to medicine. Armed with a strong medical background and competitive Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) score, Dr. Nair enrolled at SGU. In Grenada, Dr. Nair dived into her studies, spending countless hours in the library with her colleagues as they reviewed the coursework and prepared for the all-important United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). In her spare time, she and friends enjoyed the island’s restaurants and beaches.

“I really owe everything to SGU,” Dr. Nair said. “Without SGU, I would not have reached where I am today, and I’ve seen several of my classmates do extremely well also. I am very proud of all of their achievements too.”

Following two basic science years and clinical rotations, Dr. Nair matched at Drexel University’s internal medicine residency program, where she later completed a three-year cardiology fellowship. She then did two other fellowships—a Ruth Kirschstein National Award in Vascular Medicine under Dr. John P. Cooke, a renowned physician scientist in vascular biology and medicine at Stanford University, and a heart failure/cardiac transplant fellowship, also at Stanford, under transplant cardiology pioneer Dr. Sharon Hunt.

From 2008 to 2013, Dr. Nair served as an assistant/associate professor in the Department of Medicine at Texas A&M Health Sciences Center College of Medicine. During that time, she served as medical director at Scott & White Memorial Hospital and Clinics in Temple, Texas, before a two-year stint as the medical director of the Advanced Heart Failure/Mechanical Circulatory Support and Cardiac Transplantation unit at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Washington.

“I have always been interested in research and teaching in addition to patient care,” she said. “It’s great to see our residents and fellows go on to become highly esteemed physicians, conduct research, publish their own work, and distinguish themselves.  I enjoy being able to contribute to this training process.”

Published August 2015

Michel P. Nawfal, MD

Dr. Michel P. Nawfal is a prescribing clinical psychologist in Lebanon, treating patients that suffer from psychiatric and psychological disorders and providing a much-needed service in a country that has endured 30 years of war and political unrest. He has extensive research and teaching experience. He currently lectures at Notre Dame University and the Lebanese American University, and is also a guest lecturer at the American University of Beirut.

Dr. Nawfal has lived, and continues to live, a very worldly life. He was born in Beirut, Lebanon, but spent much of his time in Paris, France and New York, United States. Studying at a school such as St. George’s University, with its international focus, was a wonderful opportunity for someone who wished both to study medicine and to travel. He believes that SGU provided him with a strong foundation in medicine, friendships with people from all over the world, and a confidence that stemmed from experiencing life abroad.

“Given the chance to do it all over again, I wouldn’t do it any other way,” he said.

Prior to beginning his medical studies at St. George’s University, Michel earned a bachelor’s degree in biology at American University of Beirut, and he received a master’s degree in clinical psychology from that same University upon completion of his Doctor of Medicine. In 2006, he received the Sheikh Fawzi Azar Award for a paper about whether or not the MMPI-2, the most widely used personality test in the world, could be used effectively in the Middle East. Since 2005, Michel has been a member of the American Psychological Association and the Lebanese Psychological Association, and is also registered with the Lebanese Order of Physicians.

Michel makes volunteer work a staple of his medical career. He received the UFE medal in 2007 from the Union of the French outside France for his help in evacuating European citizens who were living in Lebanon during the time of the Lebanon-Israel War of 2006. He provided evacuees with medical treatment and psychological support. From 2008 to 2010, Michel was recruited by Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals and has been appointed as a regional medical advisor for Neuroscience and Psychiatry covering the Middle East and North Africa (15 countries).

Part of his research interest was brain activity. He previously worked on a brain study measuring activity patterns in running individuals using PET scanning, a study that was published for the American University of Beirut at a proceeding in Singapore in 2007, titled “The Importance of Bio-Imaging Brain Activity During Exercise.” Dr. Nawfal is a known public figure in the field of mental health as he is very frequently on Lebanese and international television shows, including as a psychological consultant for both NBC’s Middle Eastern version of The Biggest Loser as well as Abu Dhabi TV’s famous show Ton of Cash.

Published September 2013