2.19.2012 Guest of the Week: Professor Hamid Ghodse St. George Univrsity, London Host: Dr. Kamran Abedini

Hamid Ghodse, is the Director of the International Centre for Drug Policy at St. George’s University of London, Director of the UK National Patient Safety Agency , and President of the UN International Narcotics Control Board. Born in Iran, he is an internationally distinguished leader in the field of Psychiatry and Public Health and in Addictive Behaviour.In his talk Dr. Ghodse will discuss psychoactive drugs, improving medical and public education about them, physician education, medicalization of social problems and internet pharmacy.The rational use of all drugs is important – that is the use of the right drug for a particular condition, in the correct dosage and for the right period of time. It is particularly important when psychoactive drugs are being prescribed because inappropriate, non-rational prescription contributes to a vast pool of these drugs within the community, acting as a source of drugs for abuse and dependence.

2.12.2012 Guest of the Week: Dr. Reza Mirbolooki UC Irvine Host: Dr. Mohamad Navab

Dr. Mirbolooki will discuss type 1 diabetes and its current treatments focusing more on islet transplantation including its pros and cons. He will cover topics of the patients’ eligibility, the islet isolation and transplantation procedures, and the recent advances in the field.
Dr. Mirbolooki is a Scientist at the Preclinical Imaging Center, School of Medicine and a lecturer at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Henry Samueli School of Engineering, University of California, Irvine. He is a member of The Cell Transplantation Society and the Society of Nuclear Medicine. His MD degree with honours is from Babol University of Medical Sciences, Iran, where he was awarded the Dean's Award for Excellence in Research for his performance as the Director of Students’ Scientific Research Centre (2000).

2.5.2012 Guest of the Week: Dr. Homa Zadeh, DDS, PhDAssociate Professor of Periodontology University of Southern California Host: Dr. Ali Akbari

In his talk Dr. Zadeh will discuss array of therapeutic options available for treatment of gingival recession defects, though many of these are better suited for treatment of isolated defects. Some of the limitations of current techniques include the need for harvesting of autogenous donor tissues and their associated morbidity, as well as scar formation at the recipient site resulting from surface incisions. Moreover, muscle pull during healing often leads to incomplete root coverage or relapse of the recession. The current case reports introduce a novel, minimally invasive approach applicable for both isolated recession defects as well as multiple contiguous defects in the maxillary anterior region.

1.29.2012 Guest of the Week: Dr. Saeed Monemi Chair and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Co-chairs the Center for Geographic Information System Research California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Host: Dr. kamran Abedini

In his talk Dr. Monemi will describe the need to adopt the smart grid technology to improve the efficiency, quality of life, importance, reliability, economics, and sustainability of electricity servicesDr. Saeed Monemi is a Department Chair and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at California State Polytechnic University. Dr. Monemi co-chairs the Center for Geographic Information System Research at Cal Poly Pomona. In 1980 Dr. Monemi received his B.S. degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering from Alabama A&M University, in Huntsville, AL, supported by a scholarship from Iran National Oil Company. He practiced engineering profession as an electrical engineer for Litton Industries in Atlanta, GA.

1.22.2012 Guest of the Week: Dr. Simin Torabzadeh Professor of Medicine, University of California Irvine Board certified, Diplomate, American Board of Internal Medicine Host: Dr. Mohamad Navab

In her talk Dr. Torabzadeh will discuss the latest in the field of osteoporosis including: What is osteoporosis? Why is osteoporosis such an important problem? How many people have osteoporosis? How does osteoporosis develop? What are the symptoms of osteoporosis? How does osteoporosis affect people who have it? Can anyone get osteoporosis? How does one know to know if s/he is at risk for getting osteoporosis? Can osteoporosis be prevented? How much calcium does one need and where does one get it from? Why is Vitamin D important in preventing osteoporosis? What type of exercise is best for preventing osteoporosis? What does hormone replacement have to do with osteoporosis? Is there a treatment for osteoporosis? How is osteoporosis diagnosed? How does the bone density test define osteoporosis? And, who should have a bone density test?

1.15.2012 Guests of the Week: Dr. Haleh Emrani PhD Candidate in Near Eastern History, UCLA & Dr. Peyman Nojoumian Instructor of of Persian as a foreign language, USC Host: Dr. Ali Akbari

Ms. Haleh Emrani is a retired Computer Consultant with extensive experience in UNIX-based solutions, Network Connectivity, Security, and Data Management.She is the manager and web coordinator of www.sasanika.com – Sasanika: Late Antique Near East Project, and the webmaster of IranAncientHistory.com - Bulletin of Iranian Ancient History, an academic online journal. She is a member of the American Historical Association, International Society for Iranian Studies and Middle East Studies Association.

Ms Haleh Emrani holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, a Master of Arts in History, and is a C. Phil, currently working towards her PhD in Near Eastern History at University of California, Los Angeles. There is a demanding need to educate global professionals who are capable of handling ever-increasing global issues. The fact that learning foreign languages facilitates better understanding and opens up new communication channels between the nations and across the cultures has resulted in a growing interest in learning world languages among American students. These reasons are the impetus behind the University of Southern California’s efforts to offer a Persian language curriculum under the first phase of an Iranian Studies Initiative made possible by Farhang Foundation. Enabling proficiency in Persian and raising cultural awareness in language learners are major goals. The USC Iranian Studies Program has created a language education program that not only aims for high proficiency in Persian language but also provides an educational experience through which the students appreciate their culture and the complexity of the world that they live in.

 

1.8.2012 Guest of the Week: Dr. Maziar Behrooz Associate professor at the History Department of San Francisco State University Host: Dr. Kamran Abedini

Maziar Behrooz was born in Tehran-Iran. He received his B.A degree in History-Government from Saint Mary College of California (1982), his M.A. in Modern History of Europe from San Francisco State University (1986), and his Ph.D. in Modern History of the Near East from University of California, Los Angeles (1993). He has taught at UC Berkeley, Saint Mary's College of California, Stanford University, Bridgewater State College and is currently an associate professor at the History Department of San Francisco State University.

12.18.2011 Guest of the Week: Dr. Muhammad Sahimi Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science NIOC Chair in petroleum engineering University of Southern California (USC) Host: Dr. kamran Abedini

Dr. Muhammad Sahimi is a Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, and holds the NIOC Chair in petroleum engineering at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. He is also active in journalism, writing frequently on Iranian politics. He received his B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tehran. After briefly working for the National Iranian Oil Company, he received a scholarship from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and travelled to the USA completing his PhD at the University of Minnesota in 1984. He then moved to the USC, becoming Chairman of chemical engineering department from 1999-2005.