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Bernard Lown Award Winner Altaf Saadi, MD, Connects Health Justice with Neurology

On June 7, Dr. Altaf Saadi was presented with the Bernard Lown Award for Social Responsibility. Created in honor of pioneering Nobel Peace prize recipient, cardiologist, humanitarian, and inventor Dr. Lown after his death in 2021, the award recognizes young clinicians who stand out for their bold leadership in social justice, environmentalism, global peace, or other humanitarian efforts. More

Obituary: Bernard Lown

“Bernard's achievements and example are really hard for any of us to meet, but that example inspires so many people to recognise what is possible,” said Vikas Saini, the President of the Lown Institute, in Boston, MA, USA. “His mantra was always: We need to take collective action. What are you doing with others to change things for the better?” “At the core of the mission was the belief that a holistic approach that incorporated the physician's presence, attention, and deep engagement with the entirety of the patient's lived experience was absolutely essential to heal patients,” Saini said. “Technology always came second. In later years we would adopt a motto reflecting this philosophy: “Do as much as possible for the patient and as little as possible to the patient.” “He showed all of us who are clinicians what it meant to be a healer and a citizen of the world,” Saini said. “He believed that medicine must exist beyond the clinic to be true to its highest calling. That came from his unwavering moral commitment to social justice and the radically better system of health that we must create to achieve it.” More

Remembering Bernard Lown: physician, activist, Nobel Peace Prize winner

I have long thought that there are three types of physician. The first is fascinated by the intricacy and complexity of biomedical science. The second finds inspiration in the personal relationship between doctor and patient. The third is committed to the broader context of health, to social justice and to making the world a better place. These three groups have boundaries that are necessarily fuzzy, and many doctors belong to one or two of them. Very few belong unequivocally in all three. Bernard Lown, who died recently at age 99, was one of these. More