Tell us about where you currently live (city/country) and how you ended up in this location.

I live and work in Morristown, New Jersey, USA. After completing my medical school in the French Faculty of Medicine in Beirut, Lebanon, I started General Surgery residency in Paris, France. Then I moved to New Jersey, USA for residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Completed a FPMRS fellowship, fell in love, got married and never left!

Tell us about your work - your job title, where you work, how long you've worked in the field, areas of focus or research, etc.

I currently serve as the Fellowship & Division director of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery at Atlantic Health System in Morristown, NJ. As a subspecialist in Urogynecology, Robotic and Minimally Invasive Gynecology I focus my practice on pelvic organ prolapse, urinary and fecal incontinence as well as complex benign gynecologic surgery. I have been at Atlantic Health for over 10 years. In addition to being a busy clinician, I enjoy teaching medical students, residents and our fellows. I hold an academic appointment at Thomas Jefferson University as an Associate Professor. My focus on clinical research has led to many publications on robotic sacrocolpopexy, and continue to answer research questions about perioperative management and same day discharge for complex minimally invasive surgery.

When and why did you decide to join IUGA?

As a regular consumer of the IUGA-IUJ journal I was an intermittent member over the past decade and became a continuous member for the past 3 years. IUGA's global presence and wonderful scientific meetings, the opportunity to learn and interact with physicians from around the world made it easy to become a more committed and active member.

What has been your most rewarding or memorable IUGA experience?

My first IUGA meeting outside the USA was in Nice, France a few years ago. I enjoyed the vigorous discussions after my presentation and had a splendid time exploring the "Côte d'Azur" with my family.

What is the last book you read or movie you saw? Would you recommend it?

Crucial Accountability by Kerry Patterson et al., I highly recommend it.

What is one "fun fact" about you?

I read about Astrophysics and quiz my fellows about black holes!