LETTERS
THANK YOU PROFESSOR SANDY RAEBURN!
Kindly enough, the distinguished Edinburgh and Nottingham universities medical geneticist, Prof. Sandy Raeburn, offered his support to three medical genetics colleagues and friends to become fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh: Dr. Fahd Al-Mulla (Kuwait University), Dr. Ghazi Tadmouri (U.A.E.) and Dr. Kamal Naguib (Alexandria University).
Dr. Fahd Al-Mulla (Kuwait)
Dr. Ghazi O. Tadmouri (U.A.E.)
Dr. Kamal K.M. Naguib (Egypt)
CONDOLENCES
Prof. Mohamed Maamoun Diab, who passed away in August 2011, was a distinguished traumatologist and head of the orthopedics section at Dar El-Shifa Hospital in Cairo, Egypt. He was a dear colleague and friend, who was a fellow member of Ain Shams Medical College's Class of 1953. Three other colleagues from the same Class specialized in orthopedic surgery: the late Prof. Mamdouh Hifni, former head of the orthopedic department in Ain Shams; the late General Dr. Wael Mansour Fahmi, the former director of the orthopedic department in the Egyptian Army hospitals; and Prof. Ehsan Ashour, former head of orthopedics in Zagazig University. My sincere condolences to Prof. Diab's family, colleagues and patients.
Prof. Talaat I. Farag
Ottawa, Canada - August 2011
My Unforgettable Brother Prof. Refaat Kamel
It is so sad to hear of the passing of my best friend and older brother, Prof Refaat Kamel, the former director of the International College of Surgery (ICS). I met Prof. Kamel at ICS congress in Berlin West, in 1985, where I was a speaker and he was served as Chairman of the organization. Following a presentation where I offered my own research on “Hydatid Cyst,” Prof. Kamel approached me and told me that my paper is valuable. It was one of the best days in my life, especially because it was a beginning for me to meet eminent colleagues. That day would later result in my visiting of Egypt, which was a lifelong dream for me.
The next day, while I was waiting at the airport to return to Iran, I enjoyed meeting Prof. Kamel and his charming daughter Dr. Jehan. I remember him telling me that the ICS would hold its congress in Cairo in the near future. I expressed my desire to participate, and shared with him my thoughts about Ancient Egypt and the strong bond between our two nations. He asked me to present a paper about “Medicine in Ancient Iran.” I obliged. Not long afterwards, Prof. Kamel sent me an invitation to be part of this congress.
In hope of going to Cairo for the conference, I went to the Egyptian Embassy several times but unfortunately the door was completely closed to Iranians. By mere chance, I was able to speak with the Ambassador by phone and he agreed to meet me. When I arrived, I was treated very well and escorted to the “waiting room” The Ambassador HE Mr. Kamal Hassan, a true gentleman arrived. He was very nice and friendly with me.
Amb Kamal asked me if I know about Egypt’s history ? I answered “yes, I love Egypt and where can I start? Would you like me to start with the mythology of “Ra, amen Ra”, the first God of Egypt? He took my passport and the documents and told me that my permission would be processed in just a few days. While at that time no Iranian could enter to Egypt, these two men, Prof. Kamel and Amb. Kamal made it possible.
Once in Cairo, Prof. Kamel asked me to move from the Shepherd Hotel to the Meridian Hotel, where I became an honorary guest in a five stars hotel at no cost. This was all from Prof. Kamel’s generosity. Another surgeon from Ghana, who wanted to participate in the congress could not cover the expenses. Prof. Kamel stepped in and paid all costs of the trip for him.
Prof. Kamel hospitality and kindness knew no limits as he asked me to give the first paper “Medicine in Ancient Iran” at the conference. This was an unforgettable experience for me.
From that time and on several occasions, particularly when Prof. Kamel was the Chairman or Director of the Congresses, I was treated in very high esteem. Even in 1987 , in the Great Biennale Congress of ICS in Cairo, Prof Kamel bestowed another honor on me by having me serve as a chairman and member of the scientific committee. From that point for the, every and any obstacle I faced was sorted with the efforts of Prof. Kamel.
Thanks to him, the great and extraordinary man, the visionary leader, whose wisdom, enthusiasms and good deeds supporting the Egyptian surgeons, the world of surgery , Tropical medicine, and the Global Academy of Tropical Health (GATH).
His passage is extremely sad for me and all those who knew him. While we mourn, I remain honored and privileged to have met this great surgeon who specialized in transplantation. His son, Prof. Refaat Refaat Kamel is following in the footsteps of his great father in thought, words, and deeds. I join him and Dr. Jehan at this difficult time by expressing my sadness at this passing and send them my profound sympathy.
I am sure he will live forever because he was full of love.
Prof. Mahmoud Lotfi
Professor of Surgery, MD, FICS, FIAS, FGATH,
Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran
On behalf of all my colleagues in the Kuwait Centre for Autism, I would like to send my best wishes to all Muslims for Eid el-Fitr following the holy month of Ramadan with this 1993 painting entitled "The old women market" (Souqe al-hareem) by Kuwaiti artist, May Al-Saad.
Dr. Samira Al-Saad, PhD
Founder & Director
Kuwait Centre for Autism
Kuwait
Thanks so much for telling me about The Ambassadors Magazine supplement issue. It reminded me with the good old days of Kuwait; very impressive. The articles and the photos are very interesting.
Meanwhile, I would like to express my condolences to all my Christian friends in response to the church bombing in Alexandria, Egypt on Christmas in January 2011. It is really a shame to our culture and to our country. I ensure you that this has nothing to do with Islam but is certainly planned to hit Egypt and create a division (as in Lebanon and Iraq). We know that forgiveness is one of the core concepts of Christianity and we hope that this incident does not affect the relation between the Egyptians but open our eyes to fight evil together.
Dr. Safa Elgamal, MD
Assistant Professor
University of Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario
Canada
elgamasa@mcmaster.ca
I am pleased to inform you that the Spring 2011 issue of Global Media Journal-American Edition, focusing on New Media, Informal Learning and Social Change, is now available online: www.globalmediajournal.com
Prof. Yahya R. Kamalipour, PhD
Head,
Department of Communication and Creative ArtsPurdue University Calumet
Hammond, Indiana
USAyrkamali@purdue.edu
Excellent magazine!
Prof. Ismail Sallam
Former Minister of Health and Population
Egypt
Congratulations for the January 2011 issue of The Ambassadors Magazine, which is wonderful.
I wish you all the best.
Prof. Mahmoud Lotfi
Iran
mahmoud_lotfi2002@yahoo.com
I want to bring to your kind attention a new book that you may find helpful in your work and teaching. It is entitled, "Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded Tissues."
Dr. Fahd Al-Mulla, PhD (Glasgow), FRCPE
Associate Professor and Head of Molecular Pathology
Kuwait University
Kuwait
http://www.al-mulla.org
fahd@al-mulla.org
I am interested in advertising on your site http://ambassadors.net/
archives/issue22/educators.htm to promote my client's art schools and college reviews related website. Please send me an email at your earliest convenience so we can discuss a partnership. I look forward to working with you.Lyle Jones
lyle.jones@premiumlinkadvertising.com
It was a pleasure to read about our article on the 3rd International Medical Genetics Conference in the special supplement on your Ambassadors Magazine's January 2011 issue. We truly appreciate your good works and we are grateful.
Dr. Sadika A.Al-Awadi, MD, FRCPE
Dr. Laila Bastaki, MD, FRCPE
Kuwait Medical Genetics Centre
Kuwait
kmgc2006@yahoo.com
Good news! I have published my fifth book, "Power in Diversity", published by The Middle East Observer Libraries. It is now being sold at Al-Ahram branches; Gezira club, Ramses Hilton, Intercontinental & Grand Hyatt Cairo.
Hala Elbanna, MA
Cairo, Egypt
I was wondering if you had any need of artwork. I am an illustrator in search for work presently. I am attaching a few samples. I do computer generated art along with traditional art. My website link is also below.
Keith Favazza
Rockland, MA
USA
http://www.keithfavazza.com
I'm a reporter with Men's Journal based in New York City. I'm working on a story about hybrid animals and I understand that you have written about the work of Dr. Lulu Skidmore and her efforts to artificially inseminate a female llama with a male camel's sperm in order to create the world's first cama. I have been trying to reach Dr. Skidmore to verify some of the information about her work that is floating around on the internet but I don't believe I have up-to-date information for her. I'm hoping that you might be tell me how you came to write about her work and perhaps help me to find her up-to-date contact information. For your information, I'll share some of the questions I'd like to ask of her -- from reading your work, it seems you have spoken with her directly in the past? My questions are as follows:
1. Is it correct that there are only about a half dozen living camas, including those at Dr. Skidmore's Dubai institute?
2. What motivated Dr. Skidmore to try to breed a camel with a llama and where did the idea come from
3. I have read that the goal was to create an animal with the temperament and fine wool of a llama with endurance and strength of a camel. Is this correct?
4. If the above is true, have camas been found to exhibit those traits?
5. Why have camas not been bred more frequently?
6. Do you, or does anyone you know of, plan to try to breed camas for commercial purposes -- to supply wool or for other uses? If not, why not?
7. Is it true that the reason that camas could not exist naturally is that a camel weighs six times that of a llama and therefore would not be able to mate? (Did anyone try to leave them together to see if they would mate or was it deemed biologically impossible and therefore not even attempted?)Laura Wright Treadway
Freelance Reporter, Men's Journal
USA
lwright7@gmail.com
Medicine and Art, over the past 3 issues of the magazine were very interesting indeed. Congratulations to Prof. Emery and his wife, and to the distinguished publisher: the Royal Society of Medicine
We enjoyed looking through the January 2011 issue of The Ambassadors Online Magazine. The book reviews of Prof. Alan Emery and Dr. Marcia Emery's trilogy,
Dr. Gehan Ghally, MD and Dr. Hani Milio, MD
Family physicians
Kitchener, Ontario
Canada
WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF AUTISM? I would like to ask your advice for the right way to submit a new scientific theory on the cause of autism. Who will be the right scientist in Canada?
E. ELIA
Canada
e.elia032@btinternet.com
I recently read an article in The Ambassadors Online Magazine entitled, "The Unveiled Ebers Papyrus". I have been conducting some research on the Ebers Papyrus and found that Paul Ghalioungui's New English Translation of Ebers Papyrus is very difficult to find. I am currently doing some research on the historical use of essential oils and plant materials, specifically as it might be found in the Ebers Papyrus. Would you have some suggestions as to available resources on the Ebers Papyrus in an English translation?
Susan Pokorny
suepokorny2@hotmail.com
I am currently assisting Andrew Feinstein with some picture research for his new book, The Shadow World. Andrew is the author of After the Party, a memoir dealing with his time within the African National Congress. The Shadow World will be a hard-hitting exposé of the truth behind the global arms trade.
He would like to use the image of Adnan Khashoggi which I found in your magazine (URL: http://ambassadors.net/
archives/issue28/opinion4.htm ). Do you happen to know the original source of the image?Sharmila Woollam
Editorial Trainee
Hamish Hamilton
Penguin UK
Sharmila.Woollam@uk.penguingroup.com
This is regarding an article in The Ambassadors Magazine about Abul Ala Al Ma'arrī. http://
ambassadors.net/archives/ .This article has two pictures of Al-Ma'arrī, one of a statue, another of a painting. If you have copyright to the pictures, I would like to borrow them with your kind permission for a Norwegian article I'll write about Al-Ma'arrī. Is that possible?issue25/features3.htm Arild Tornes
arild.tornes@gmail.com
The Global Women's Foundation (GWF) is organizing an International Conference on HIV Aid’s / Woman & child Abuse. We invite you to take part in the upcoming conference taking place from 19th – 22nd July 2011 in Washington, D.C USA and from 25th – 28th July in Vicenza Italy. The Conference will deliver interactive workshop sessions that will enable delegates to share best practice, exchange ideas, empower each other and discuss the latest research findings. For more information, contact the secretariat of the organizing committee by email (secretar_globo_2011@mynet.com
)for more information. Ms Emily Williams
Washington, DC
USA
william2011emily@globomail.com
In July 2011, U.S. Congress Representatives James P. Moran and John J. Duncan, Jr. introduced a concurrent resolution supporting the formation of a bipartisan Presidential Commission to study the establishment of a National Museum of the American People into the House of Representatives. The National Museum of the American People will tell the story of ALL of the American People from prehistoric times to the present and advance and disseminate knowledge of that story. All of the money to design and build the museum will come from non-appropriated funds. The Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA) has become a member of the Coalition for the National Museum of the American People . The coalition comprises an alliance of 139 ethnic organizations (Irish, Italian, Greek, Jewish, and Polish, to name a few) who have come together to build support for a national commission to study the establishment of the Museum.
PAAIA
1614 20th Street, NW
Washington, DC
USA
info@paaia.org
http://www.paaia.org/
My name is Kaitlyn Diduck and I am a graphic designer with Rubicon Publishing in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. We specialize in literacy education for reluctant readers. I am working on a textbook about 10 Canadian environmentalists (working title is The 10 Greatest Canadian Environmentalists), and one of our chapters is on Sheila Watt-Cloutier. I saw on your website that you feature an image of her with the Governor General of Canada. If possible I would like to include this image in the book we are publishing. Below is the webpage address for the article and featured image (http://ambassadors.net/archives/issue23/profile5.htm
http://ambassadors.net/archives/images/sheila_watt_ cloutier.jpg Kaitlyn Diduck
Graphic Designer
Rubicon Publishing Inc.
281 Wyecroft Road
Oakville, Ontario
Canada
I was hoping to interview Prof. Talaat I . Farag in Arabic for BBC Arabic radio about how the use of genetic testing might change our lives in the future. I work on a magazine programme with a lot of audience participation, and I think this topic will be interesting for them to learn about and discuss.
In particular I wanted to look at how genetic testing will make us more aware of future threats to our health and our childrens; it will make us worry about our children's futures more or might make us take drastic action to prevent a disease - as in the example of the woman in the UK who had a double mastectomy. I would also like to ask you a question about marrying first cousins and what are the most prevalent genetic diseases in the Middle East.
The interview would be on the phone, so if you interested, please let me know the number to contact you and what time and day would be convenient.
Hala Saleh
hala.saleh@bbc.co.uk
BBC
I'm a reporter with Men's Journal based in New York City. I'm working on a story about hybrid animals and I understand that you have written about the work of Dr. Lulu Skidmore and her efforts to artificially inseminate a female llama with a male camel's sperm in order to create the world's first cama. I have been trying to reach Dr. Skidmore to verify some of the information about her work that is floating around on the internet but I don't believe I have up-to-date information for her. I'm hoping that you might be tell me how you came to write about her work and perhaps help me to find her up-to-date contact information. For your information, I'll share some of the questions I'd like to ask of her -- from reading your work, it seems you have spoken with her directly in the past?
Laura Wright Treadway
Freelance Reporter, Men's Journal
USA
lwright7@gmail.com
Jacob, born on March 21, 2009, enjoys seeing the photos in the magazine. We are happy that my wife Dalia completed her Masters of Public Administration.I enjoyed reading many articles in the last issue of The Ambassadors Magazine. My son,
Dr. Ashraf Sedra
MD
Los Angeles, California
