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For Immediate Release
July 18, 2013
BOARD MEMBER DR. ARTHUR GRIGORIAN RECEIVES PRESIDENTIAL AWARD
NEW YORK, New York — Armenia Fund USA proudly congratulates its very own board member Arthur Grigorian, MD as a 2012 recipient of Armenia’s Presidential Award. This honor is bestowed to a select few candidates each year in fields ranging from the arts and Armenian studies to physics, computer/information sciences, literature and medicine. Each candidate is nominated and selected by expert panels in respective fields, making this both a prestigious national honor as well as salute among peers.
(L to R) Mr. Albert Boghossian, Dr. Arthur Grigorian, President Serzh Sargsyan |
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Dr. Grigorian is more than a neurosurgeon. He is at the at the forefront of management of complex intracranial and spine pathology, with over 22 years of experience and a thriving surgical practice in Macon, GA. He is also a visionary in service to his native country of Armenia.
Accomplishments of the Armenian Physician Training Program
Thanks to Dr. Arthur Grigorian’s hands-on leadership, the Armenian Physicians Training Program has become a crown jewel in the Armenia Fund USA portfolio of health care delivery projects.
- 2002: An official cooperation agreement was signed between the National Institute of Health of Armenia and MUSM, MCCG and the Georgia Neurological Institute (GNI).
- 2004: Armenian neurology specialists trained by a technical support team from the U.S., when the first sleep laboratory in the region, donated by local physicians, was established in Yerevan. The MCCG also transported valuable surgical equipment and a surgical instrumentarium to Yerevan.
- 2004: Special fellowships created for outstanding candidates to participate in Observational Fellowships at MCCG and GNI.
- 2005: Additional cooperation agreements forged between YSMU and the above-mentioned entities. 2009: Through a collaboration between Dr. Grigorian and Dr. Gohar Kalyan, former dean of YSMU, a new vascular stroke center opened in Yerevan within the structures of YSMU.
- Ongoing: Approximately 35 medical students, residents and physicians have already received training in the U.S. for various specialties, including pediatrics, OB-GYN, general and plastic surgery, neurology and radiology. In 2013, another 4 candidates were selected to receive training. Additionally, more than 100 patients have undergone emergency or elective treatment through the stroke center.
As the mastermind of the Neurosciences Physicians’ Training initiative, a program supported by Armenia Fund USA, Dr. Grigorian is enabling talented young neurosurgeons in Armenia to receive best practices training and western medicine experience in a critical specialty.
In 2001, Dr. Grigorian, noted the high rate of stroke victims in Armenia, second only to cardiovascular disease. As an Associate Professor of Surgery at Mercer University School of Medicine (MUSM) in Georgia, USA, Dr. Grigorian initiated the program in cooperation with the National Institute of Health of the Republic of Armenia and later with Yerevan State Medical University.
The purpose was to establish a channel of cooperation that would facilitate the exchange of students and/or faculty members between Armenia and the U.S. Such exposure would help provide talented neuroscience specialists with the skills and experience to serve the needs of Armenia’s patient populations.
A PRESIDENTIAL CALL TO FUTURE ACHIEVEMENTS
The Presidential Awards 2012 ceremony was held in Yerevan on May 29, 2013. The coveted prize was presented to Dr. Grigorian and other recipients by Armenia’s president, along with Albert Boghossian, founder of the Boghossian Foundation—a family foundation that helps makes this distinguished award possible.
In the field of medicine, Drs. Arthur Grigorian, Prof. Ruben Fanarjyan and Tigran Khachatryan were recognized for introducing and developing endovascular neurosurgery in the Republic of Armenia. In his congratulatory speech, President Serzh Sargsyan referred to the honorees as the “best of the best” in their respective fields. The president also noted that the award aims to inspire recipients to new achievements. “Not only do we therewith appreciate your services,” he stated, “but we also urge you to do more for the glory of the Armenian people.”
(L to R) Mr. Albert Boghossian, Prof. Ruben Fanarjyan, President Serzh Sargsyan |
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To that end, Dr. Grigorian has set the bar ever higher to make Armenia a center of medical excellence in neurosciences and other specialties. Recently, Dr. Grigorian recounted a story that attests to the significant strides already made in stroke management.
(L to R) Mr. Albert Boghossian,
Dr. Tigran Khachatryan, President Serzh Sargsyan |
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“While visiting Yerevan,” he said, a prominent Italian religious figure suffered acute intracranial bleeding from a ruptured brain aneurysm. He was rushed to the new stroke center that we established in 2009. His aneurysm was obliterated.”
Dr. Arthur Ulm from Louisiana State University, who has teamed up with Dr. Grigorian to develop the stroke center, remarked that, “the patient was lucky it happened in Armenia, not Italy.”
A DISTINGUISHED CAREER AS HEALER AND EDUCATOR
Born and raised in Armenia, Dr. Arthur Grigorian received his early medical training at leading institutes in Moscow. After coming to the United States, he completed a fellowship in cerebrovascular surgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Beth Israel Hospital in New York, followed by another fellowship in endovascular neurosurgery. He completed his residency in neurological surgery at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School.
He is board certified by the American and European Boards of Neurological Surgery. Currently, through his practice at the Georgia Neurological Institute, Dr. Grigorian is the only neurosurgeon managing complex vascular/endovascular lesions in the middle-Georgia area.
Dr. Grigorian focuses on the management of complex vascular lesions of the brain and spinal cord including aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations and hemorrhagic/ischemic strokes. His areas of interest also include vascular/endovascular and general neurosurgery together with management of complex spine disorders and intracranial neoplasms.
He is a member of numerous medical organizations, including the American Association of Neurosurgeons, CNS, European NS Associations, American Stroke Association and the MCCG stroke team. He has authored more than 40 articles related to intracranial pathology and two monographs on subarachnoidal hemorrhages and ischemic strokes, including in Armenian and Russian. He is an honorary member of multiple international neurosurgical societies.
Upon learning of Dr. Grigorian’s award, Armenia Fund USA Chairman Khoren Bandazian remarked that, “this is a well deserved honor for Arthur. We have come to know him as one of the most relentless and passionate individuals in pursuit of excellence in medicine. He has not turned his back on where he started in life. Instead, he has used his great success as a respected neurosurgeon in America to serve his people and colleagues back home. We are proud to support the work he is doing and pleased to have such a humanitarian and visionary on our board. Well done, Arthur.”
ARMENIA FUND USA: founded in 1992, was one of the first of “Hayastan” All-Armenian Fund’s 21 international affiliates and serves constituents in all states east of the Mississippi. As a non-profit, non-governmental, nonsectarian organization, the Fund represents all Armenian constituents, supporting strategic infrastructure projects in Armenia and Karabakh. The Fund has adopted a policy to go “Beyond Bricks and Mortar” to provide sustainability for projects it sponsors.
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