Dr. Kevin Frick, Noted Expert from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health Invited to Present by AUA’s Meghrigian Institute for Preventive Ophthalmolog

The American University of Armenia’s Meghrigian Institute for Preventive Ophthalmology of the College of Health Sciences organized a Public Health Seminar on July 26, 2012. During the seminar Dr. Kevin D. Frick presented his work about the global burden of visual impairment from uncorrected refractive errors and cost-effectiveness of interventions correcting refractive errors. Dr. Frick is a Professor in the Departments of Health Policy and Management and International Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. He has joint appointments in the Schools of Medicine and Nursing at Johns Hopkins University.

Professor Frick is an internationally respected health economist who visited AUA to teach the course Economic Evaluation Methods in Healthcare – Understanding Cost-Effectiveness. He combines his knowledge of economic analysis with clinical and epidemiological insights from his colleagues to produce cost-effectiveness analyses that bring the tools of economic decision making to policy-makers. He has been extensively involved in estimating the burden of different forms of visual impairment in different regions in the world and has collaborated in a group that outlined state-of-the-art methods for calculating the costs of blindness in populations. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed publications, including several international cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness studies and framework papers on blinding trachoma, and is extending his work to include vision care services in the United States. Professor Frick earned his PhD in Economics and Health Services Organization and Policy and MA in Economics from the University of Michigan.

AUA students, graduates, researchers, and faculty and ophthalmologists from different organizations attended the public seminar.

The American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia.  Founded in 1991, AUA is affiliated with the University of California.  Through teaching, research, and public service, AUA serves Armenia and the region by supplying high-quality, graduate and undergraduate education, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting democratic values.

The American University of Armenia is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, 985 Atlantic Avenue, #100, Alameda, CA 94501, 510-748-9001.

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International Law Professor William Slomanson is Special Guest Speaker

Yerevan, Armenia – American University of Armenia’s College of Law recently hosted a talk by Professor William Slomanson of Thomas Jefferson School of Law (TJSL) in San Diego, California, USA.  Prof. Slomanson is a highly-regarded scholar of international law, whose Fundamental Perspectives on International Law is a classic textbook in the field.  

Professor Slomanson presented an overview of the doctrine of remedial secession with special reference to Nagorno-Karabagh.   He was accompanied by his colleague, TJSL Prof. Chris Guzelian, who helped arrange the lecture at AUA, and his assistant Mike Pehlevanian, a 3rd year student at TJSL.  

The well-attended lecture outlined the history of unilateral declarations of independence, relying on the Canadian Supreme Court case on Quebec’s bid for secession from Canada, the International Court of Justice ruling on Kosovo and the ECHR ruling on the Russian Federation and Georgia.   A lively discussion ensued on how the three elements of this doctrine apply to Nagorno-Karabagh, with the conclusion that a strong case can be made for remedial secession as an appropriate remedy in this case, on the grounds that (1) NK has a defined people, (2) who were subjected to gross violations of human rights by the state from which it has declared independence, for which (3) nothing less than secession would be a sufficient remedy.   

The American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia.  Founded in 1991, AUA is affiliated with the University of California.  Through teaching, research, and public service, AUA serves Armenia and the region by supplying high-quality, graduate and undergraduate education, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting democratic values.

The American University of Armenia is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, 985 Atlantic Avenue, #100, Alameda, CA 94501, (510) 748-9001.

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AUA’s Meghrigian Institute Visits Mary Ismirlyan Orphanage

In June-July 2012, American University of Armenia’s Garo Meghrigian Institute for Preventive Ophthalmology (Meghrigian Institute) College of Health Sciences continued its annual eye screenings among socially vulnerable and orphaned children.  This time it went to Mary Ismirlyan Orphanage. It currently serves 90 children. Sixty six children were available for detailed eye screening. Among them, 23 children were found to suffer from different types of refractive errors such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. Twelve children were prescribed eye glasses which were distributed to them for free by Meghrigian Institute. Forty-four children were diagnosed with more serious eye conditions such as infections, allergic conjunctivitis, dry eye syndrome, amblyopia, retinal dystrophy, blefaritis and eyelid chalasion. All children with eye diseases received medical assistance from AUA’s Meghrigian Institute.

The next stop will be at Kharberd Specialized Orphanage.

The American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia.  Founded in 1991, AUA is affiliated with the University of California.  Through teaching, research, and public service, AUA serves Armenia and the region by supplying high-quality, graduate and undergraduate education, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting democratic values.

The American University of Armenia is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, 985 Atlantic Avenue, #100, Alameda, CA 94501, 510-748-9001.

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