Posted by John Concrane on September 16, 2020 in Health
Meet Avi Kerendian and some of his accomplishments: GGHTx is on a mission in changing lives through the power of global health. “Gracias” Global Health Trips, otherwise known as GGHTx, is a global health-oriented nonprofit organization/NGO that brings together young volunteers from medical and dental backgrounds to aid in intensive, week-long medical mission trips in rural villages throughout Latin America and Uganda. Led by Co-Founders Dr. Arash Hakhamian and Avi Kerendian, register for the volunteer experience of a lifetime!
Avi Kerendian is the Co-Founder and Program Director of GGHTx. GGHTx, also known as “Gracias” Global Health Trips, is an active public health non-profit improving global health in underserved, indigenous communities in Latin America and Uganda through community-based partnerships (CBO’s) with the end goal of fostering self-sufficiency.
Avi Kerendian latest project: Specifically, GGHTx will work in partnership with Zidan Benevolence International, a community organization, in communities within the Buikwe District (central Uganda) to support people living with and at high-risk of HIV. Barring financial considerations, Uganda’s rebound in HIV/AIDS is still partly due to individual and community unawareness, neglect, and complacency in prevention strategies that are, unfortunately, still affecting community members in significant numbers.
How about after finally arriving there you realize that the doctor has run out of the most basic medical supplies used to treat and evaluate your 2-month old baby who has been coughing in sheer pain for the last 3 days and likely has a severe case of pneumonia; something totally preventable and treatable with basic medicine, but without which can now be life-threatening. You are turned away and told to go back home. You now have no choice but to wait until next week – hoping and praying – that this time the doctor will not have run out of the medicine your child desperately needs.
“Gracias” Global Health Trip’s (GGHTx) guiding principle under the auspices of co-founders Dr. Arash Hakhamian and Avi Kerendian, is to team up with local volunteer centers in developing areas to bring together the volunteers, donations, and necessary resources that local communities need, with an eye towards fostering self-sufficiency. We specifically choose to work closely with local partners. Remember, you are here for a limited time. Be honest with yourself and the project regarding your time here. If you implement something, make sure you pass on the knowledge, so future volunteers can continue in your footsteps.
Avi Kerendian – Cancer Researcher : Before becoming the program director of GGHTx, Avi Kerendian also participated at the prestigious Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) as a Neurology Cancer-Research Assistant at the renowned “Ronald Blasberg Lab.” While there, Avi Kerendian used his skills to actively contribute towards two research projects that seek to reverse the progression of tumors in glioblastoma and breast cancer in terminal cancer patients. As one of the youngest researchers on his team, Avi Kerendian successfully trained in small animal surgery and medicine. Read more information at Avi Kerendian.