The millions of Americans and New Yorkers touched by and participating in the visit of Pope Francis to the United States include one of the members of the Department of Anesthesiology. Gunisha Kaur, M.D., Instructor in Anesthesiology, and Director of Weill Cornell Anesthesiology’s Global Health Initiative, today joined with her father, Satpal Singh, PhD, a Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. Dr. Kaur and Dr. Singh, as representatives of the Sikh faith and community, joined a handful of representatives from other faiths on stage with Pope Francis and participated in an interfaith service.
Pope Francis leads the interfaith service at the 9/11 Memorial. Dr. Kaur is on the far left. (Photo from 9/11 Memorial Youtube channel.)
It was an intimate ceremony at the site of the September 11th, 2001 World Trade Center attacks. The gathering in the World Trade Center Memorial Museum included a Prayer for Remembrance by Pope Francis and a prayer from each member of the diverse religious communities represented. The invitation of Dr. Kaur to participate in the interfaith service at the 9/11 Memorial from Pope Francis was a great honor. Dr. Kaur told NBC news, “Being on stage alongside such an incredible individual gives us an opportunity to demonstrate that we all belong to the same collective family and that we have many shared experiences that unite us. As a Sikh, New Yorker, and physician specializing in global health work, this message is powerful.”
Dr. Kaur speaks at the interfaith service. (Photo from 9/11 Memorial Youtube channel.)
Gunisha Kaur, M.D.
Dr. Kaur has written extensively and been active on the part of under-represented communities globally. Amongst other prominent writings, Dr. Kaur published a book, Lost in History: 1984 Reconstructed, detailing and documenting human rights violations in South Asia.
Dr. Kaur’s work as Director of the Global Health Initiative at Weill Cornell Anesthesiology unites her expertise as an Anesthesiologist with her work in human rights and global health. The Global Health Initiative she has built here at Weill Cornell reflects a desire to train clinicians to deliver top-quality care, but also work within developing communities to fortify and build health in a multifaceted, biosocial manner.
This 2013 photo shows Dr. Kaur (far right) and colleagues bringing health education to a school in Amritsar, Punjab, India.
Dr. Kaur has noted, “The current scope of global health work in medicine is limited. Traditional models of global health training have been constrained by a separation of concrete clinical patient care and the abstract concepts of how medical anthropology influences health and health care.” The Weill Cornell Anesthesiology Global Health Initiative has sought to combine both of these approaches in order to affect immediate improvements in clinical care but to also promote sustainable practices and sustainable change in the developing world.
MORE INFORMATION
- RNS Background on Interfaith Service
- Weill Cornell Anesthesiology Global Health Initiative
- 9/11Memorial page on Papal Event
- Interfaith Service on Vatican You Tube channel
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