Since graduating and finishing an internship at Physio-Control, BS Bioengineering alumnus and Fulbright Student Study/Research grant recipient Hani Mahmoud left Seattle in August to travel to Kuwait, eager to begin his project and help establish collaborations between his host country and the United States on mutual interests in biomedicine to improve health. (Click through the link to read more about Hani)
En route, he took a 6-day whirlwhind tour through London, Budapest and Belgrade. He then spent a few weeks with friends in Nepal, where he trekked 10,000 feet up the Himalayas through a monsoon, rafted half way across the country in a glacier-fed river, canoed through alligator-infested waters, bathed with elephants and hiked through a rhino-filled jungle. He arrived in the Middle East just in time to spend the Eid holiday in Jordan. In Jordan, he explored Petra, the Dead Sea (which, he explains, “makes you feel like you’re in zero-G by forcing you to float”) and participated in several outdoor activities in the desert, including zip lining, rappelling, hiking and rock climbing.
Now in Kuwait, Hani is in the process of getting his project started as the Eid holiday has ended and schools are back in session. He reports that “things are less adventurous here,” but says that becoming accustomed to the culture and humid 100+ degree weather “is a big enough adventure for the time being.” He’ll spend the next couple months working with the Dasman Diabetes Institute to train nurses and visiting schools across the country to help establish an Electronic Medical Record system for Kuwaiti youth.
He says that his workplace is “beautiful,” overlooking the Persian Gulf and full of brand new state of the art equipment. He says he has observed that challenges seem to exist in navigating the system to obtain funding/research approval, and in establishing scientific collaborations. However, he looks forward to contributing to solutions that help advance health care in the country.