Perviz Asaria
Field: Public Health
Host: Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Dates of Grant: 2004-2005

Dr. Asaria of Great Britain undertook her Fulbright Student grant in the Master of Public Health program at Harvard’s School of Public Health after qualifying from Imperial College, London in 2001. She is focusing on ways to move from an individual patient-centered approach to healthcare to a perspective that looks at the broader health needs of communities and populations. Her work also involves finding the tools to serve as an advisor on health care strategy at national and international levels and to improve healthcare provisions to marginalized sectors of the community. During the course of her Fulbright grant, Dr. Asaria wrote, “Within Boston I have been teaching on a voluntary basis at a homework club after school, located in one of the poorer areas of town. This has brought me into contact with Cape Verdians in America—whose existence I was previously completely unaware of. It has also had the benefit of forcing me to learn about recent American history in order to help the children complete their homework…. In addition I am doing the Sunday breakfast shift at a homeless shelter run by Harvard University students. Not only does this allow me the privilege of coming closer to the most marginalized members of society, it has also given me very useful insight into how a completely voluntary organization can be run effectively, efficiently and with great professionalism. I hope I will be able to put this inspiration to good use on my return…. Furthermore, I have found that despite my being one of the very few obviously Muslim people on my course, my colleagues have been hesitant to ask me questions about Islam even though there is a general atmosphere of great concern about the “threat” of Islam and Muslims in America. To this end, during the month of the Muslim fast (Ramadan) I initiated and organized an end-of-fast interfaith dinner, followed by an open discussion session. The aim was to provide a non-confrontational forum in which colleagues and fellow students could voice their fears and concerns about Islam and to dispel some of the myths propagated by the media."

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