Who is Avi Kerendian and some of his thoughts: GGHTx is on a mission in changing lives through the power of global health. “Gracias” Global Health Trips, otherwise known as GGHTx, is a global health-oriented nonprofit organization/NGO that brings together young volunteers from medical and dental backgrounds to aid in intensive, week-long medical mission trips in rural villages throughout Latin America and Uganda. Led by Co-Founders Dr. Arash Hakhamian and Avi Kerendian, register for the volunteer experience of a lifetime!
Avi Kerendian is the Co-Founder and Program Director of GGHTx. GGHTx, also known as “Gracias” Global Health Trips, is an active public health non-profit improving global health in underserved, indigenous communities in Latin America and Uganda through community-based partnerships (CBO’s) with the end goal of fostering self-sufficiency.
Avi Kerendian latest project: GGHTx will help facilitate HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention, and destigmatization by helping inspire leadership within local communities and schools in response to the recent rebound in HIV, especially amongst pediatrics. Mission: To provide volunteer efforts in the professional implementation of the project’s educational awareness and destigmatization HIV/AIDS model.
Have you ever had to walk 5 miles carrying your 2-month old baby, in hopes of getting an appointment with a general physician? It is also a blazing 90°F outside and the path you are walking on is full of uneven stones, loose dirt, and countless forks, all possibly causing you to go the wrong way. In case you weren’t sure, the villages GGHTx travels to each year have no Uber option either.
“Gracias” Global Health Trip’s (GGHTx) guiding principle under the auspices of co-founders Dr. Arash Hakhamian and Avi Kerendian, is to team up with local volunteer centers in developing areas to bring together the volunteers, donations, and necessary resources that local communities need, with an eye towards fostering self-sufficiency. We specifically choose to work closely with local partners. Remember, you are here for a limited time. Be honest with yourself and the project regarding your time here. If you implement something, make sure you pass on the knowledge, so future volunteers can continue in your footsteps.
Avi Kerendian – Cancer Researcher : Before becoming the program director of GGHTx, Avi Kerendian also participated at the prestigious Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) as a Neurology Cancer-Research Assistant at the renowned “Ronald Blasberg Lab.” While there, Avi Kerendian used his skills to actively contribute towards two research projects that seek to reverse the progression of tumors in glioblastoma and breast cancer in terminal cancer patients. As one of the youngest researchers on his team, Avi Kerendian successfully trained in small animal surgery and medicine. See extra details at Avi Kerendian.