Report on the AMAANA’s 6th Biennial Meet
The Aligarh Medical Alumni Association of North America (AMAANA) held it’s 6th biennial general body meeting and reunion in the Washington DC area on Oct 25th-26th, 2025. It was a well-attended event with Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC) alumni traveling from all over the USA and Canada. The honorable Vice Chancellor, Prof Naima Khatoon kindly graced the event as the Chief Guest with Dr Frank Islam, the noted entrepreneur, thought leader and philanthropist, as the Keynote Speaker.
A beautiful rendition of a Quranic verse by Dr Huma Kazmie officially started the program. The immediate past president of AMAANA, Dr Reshma Mahmood expressed gratefulness and welcomed the honorable guests by thanking Madam VC for her ‘inspiring leadership, scholarship and dedication to advancing education and empowering women’. She thanked the Keynote Speaker, Dr Frank Islam, for his continued contributions to the society as someone ‘whose life’s work exemplifies the power of vision, perseverance and giving back to the community’.
Dr Tazeen Beg in her presidential address highlighted the accomplishments of the association over the past 2-3 years laying special emphasis on their latest vision, the establishment of JNMC as a Center for excellence in cancer care through its Cancer Center Initiative. ‘Let us utilize our JNMC alumni network and make it into a platform of impact from a mere directory, an impact that echoes through generations’, she said. Dr Beg encouraged the AMAANA members and guests to wholeheartedly support the launch of this renewed fundraising initiative. ‘The funds that we raise here will not just be investments in our college— they are investments in the future of healthcare,’ she remarked.
Introducing the Vice Chancellor, Dr Shamim Khan called attention to the fact that she was the first woman VC in the more than 100-year history of AMU, for ‘breaking the glass ceiling’ and how it was an inspiration to all the young women faculty and students. Addressing the alumni, the Vice Chancellor, Prof Khatoon highlighted the continued academic, technical and philanthropic efforts by AMAANA as another major step towards the ‘culmination of the vision of our founder, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan’. She assured full support from the university administration for any collaborative initiatives. ‘You have made us proud through your commitments and contributions to your alma mater’, she said.
Introducing the keynote speaker, Dr Tazeen Beg, highlighted Dr Frank Islam’s inimitable style of leadership and philanthropy as he strives to create opportunities that are sustainable and uplifting for humanity, guided by virtues of innovation, hard work and kindness.
In his Keynote speech, Dr Islam shared the ‘lessons learned’ especially those from AMU which gave him ‘purpose driven education, and a strong sense of values’ that shaped his destiny – that of a successful entrepreneur and a philanthropist. He encouraged the alumni to support exactly that!
“It is my understanding that one of the priorities for your association is to support the state-of-the- art cancer center at JNMC focused on the ‘poorest of the poor’ population in the Aligarh area. I encourage you to make that investment because I know there will be a huge return on it,” he said.
Being kind at heart, he was also very positive about the prospect of providing funds for the proposed cancer center.
As part of the agenda for this meeting, in a video recording, Dr Mohd Akram, Chairman, Department of Radiotherapy presented an overview on the current case load of cancers and the status of the cancer care at JNMC. He was happy to report that the Vice Chancellor, Prof Naima Khatoon had recently facilitated the approval for the establishment of Linear Accelerator in the Department of Radiation Oncology for treatment of cancers. Dr Shams Iqbal, the Vice President of AMAANA reiterated the need for a comprehensive cancer care facility involving the 5 pillars of oncology, namely, Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Surgical Oncology, Interventional Oncology and Palliative care.
Dr Syed Mohsin Raza, a surgeon and philanthropist working with the community in Aligarh was the recipient of the Jawaharlal Nehru Lifetime Achievement Award for excellence in Medicine, Public Health and Allied Sciences. Dr Ashraf Khan, one of the founding directors and first President of AMAANA, was felicitated with the Col M Tajuddin Distinguished Alumni Award in recognition of his exemplary commitment to teaching and alumni engagement. The alumni were also treated to a short Skit ‘The Jargon Jam’ conceptualized and produced by Dr Syed Mohsin Alvi, AMAANA Secretary, and Dr F S Sherani from Aligarh. Finally, the guests were mesmerized by the soulful singing of Mr Isumatorra Mohamado, another talented alumnus of AMU, with music by DJ Monty. Dr Barina Aqil conducted the program as the Master of Ceremonies while Dr Gaurav Gupta, the Joint Secretary, thanked the alumni and the guests for their graceful presence, camaraderie and lively introductions and presentations.
The discussion about the cancer center continued into the next day (Sunday, Oct 26th) with a meeting of the VC, the Executive committee members of AMAANA, it’s Cancer Center Initiative Committee (CCIC) members and Dr Akram over Zoom. It was a very constructive discussion and included presentations by Dr Hina Khan, Dr Akram and Dr Samina Salim of Aligscare, a non-profit providing palliative and rehabilitative services to patients and families affected by cancer. Dr Hina Khan and Dr Shams Iqbal presented a very concise synopsis of the urgent need for a dedicated multidisciplinary cancer center at JNMC followed by a discussion with a very enthusiastic and positive response from the Vice Chancellor. Prof Naima Khatoon assured her full administrative support to AMAANA’s latest endeavor.
On Monday, Nov 3rd, the Vice Chancellor met with the Director of Stony Brook Medicine Cancer Center, Dr Aaron Sasson about the possibility of a collaboration in the exchange of information and expertise between the Renaissance School of Medicine in New York, USA and JNMC. The team included Dr Shamim Khan, Dr Tazeen Beg, Dr Sneh Chauhan, Prof Irfan Beg and PRO, Mr Omar Peerzada. Dr Sasson took the team around the cancer center emphasizing the importance of building the center in close proximity to the hospital. He also pointed out the design of the integrated center which includes spaces for patient waiting room, doctors’ offices, clinics, infusion therapy or treatment rooms being present all under one roof. Dr Tazeen Beg presented an overview of the current facility, the extent of the problem and the opportunities that await. The Vice Chancellor’s comments were marked by a return invitation extended out to Dr Sasson to visit JNMC and reiteration of her promise to provide all administrative support. The next step is a zoom meeting between the SBM, JNMC and AMAANA to develop a strategic plan.
Prof Naima Khatoon’s visit to the US on an invitation from AMAANA concluded with a shared vision between the AMU leadership and AMAANA members to establish a state-of-the-art Cancer Center at JNMC. The initiative will combine infrastructure development, clinical expertise, research partnerships, and community outreach — marking a transformative step in cancer care for Aligarh and the entire western UP region.
