President’s Letter-FEBRUARY 2026
February 2026 President’s newsletter
Welcome to this month’s, February 2026, newsletter!
NAAMA has been buzzing with activity and our spring and summer promise to be very active.
As outlined in last month’s newsletter, our scope, medical, educational, and philanthropic, is heavily shaped by our current stressors and circumstances. As such, we can hardly avoid talking about immigration and associated issues. The United States has known multiple waves of immigration, starting with more than half a million individuals from Africa sold into slavery between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, a major wave of immigration from 1815 to 1865, focused on Northern and Western Europe, especially Ireland. Immigration culminated between 1880 and 1920, more than 20 million immigrants enriching our ranks. Decline in immigration were noted during World War I (1914–1918), the global depression of the 1930s and during World War II. Between 1930 and 1950, America’s foreign-born population decreased from 14.2 to 10.3 million. The lowest percentage of foreign born in the United States population in the last 100 years was observed in the US Census Bureau records of 1970.
So how does it affect what we do? Firstly, the impact is expected to be felt in operational procedures, mentorship and observership efforts. Second, such policies affect acute and chronic disease management for practicing healthcare providers on daily basis, since people change the pattern, they use to seek care in those circumstances. Historically, immigration changes have profoundly shaped policies and results for infectious and other diseases. NAAMA will follow on this impact on relevant populations and issue pertinent educational activities as needed to help with healthcare needs.
Housekeeping Items & Evolution:
Next, I want to thank you all for being patient as we revamped our website and some of our membership processes. Our organization is 50 years old and many of our bylaws and procedures need upheaval. So, for each repeat email and glitch you have experienced on our website, I urge your patience and forgiveness while we revamp. This will be a gradual process that will allow us to emerge, at the end of the year, with a more efficient, streamlined set of processes and user experience.
To this effect, NAAMA has signed a contract with MINDSETS for consulting, Mindsets. The purpose is for the provision of Strategic Consulting Services as by co-designing practical, implementable solutions that reflect NAAMA’s mission, culture, and strategic aspirations. Our goals are to:
· Strengthening institutional governance, decision-making, and accountability
· Enhance stakeholder communication, transparency, and engagement across chapters and members
· Define a clear, long-term strategy that amplifies NAAMA’s role as both a premier professional society and a thought leader on Arab American health issues
Educational Activities & Upcoming Meetings:
Our main release this spring is by our Women in NAAMA section. A 90-minute educational module on how to assess torture victims according to internationally established rules is provided below as a free educational resource. Developed by experts on the topic, this module is meant for non-specialists, as we encounter survivors of mistreatment in our clinical settings. Companion educational modules will be released this spring as well.
Module will be available at our website and at this link.
NextGen continues to have a frenzy of events across the country, please visit NAAMA NextGen to learn about their many activities and new chapters opening this spring across the country
A sampling of events to look forward to this month:
NAAMA North Dallas/Fortworth, Iftar, February 20th
NAAMA San Diego, Interfaith Dinner, February 25th
NAAMA Houston, Iftar, February 28th
NAAMA Illinois- Interfaith events, Iftar & Lent February 25th and March 11
NAAMA Los Angeles, Iftar, March 8
Lastly, we hope many of you will join us in Lisbon for the 35th international convention NAAMA CONVENTION – LISBON 2026. The conventions offered by NAAMA are unique in blending educational content pertinent to our bicultural backgrounds, unique health needs. One can find CME anywhere, but one cannot find CME that speaks to our uniqueness easily. I am especially delighted to announce that the convention this year will feature, in addition to the usual content, one subspecialty symposium in pathology, one section dedicated to NGO, charitable work and the interactions with humanitarian organizations, co-led by NAAMA and the Global Health Relief initiative. We plan to discuss topics such as ecocide and food sovereignty, and the scope of charitable work and interface with organizations such as ours. Our gala will be led by Arwa Damon, the award-winning former CNN Senior International Correspondent (2003–2022) specializing in the Middle East, known for her in-depth coverage of war zones and humanitarian crises, and the founder of INARA. Stay tuned as well for the very exciting announcement of our keynote speaker, to be revealed next month!
And as usual, I welcome your comments at naama@naama.com.
Regards,
Nidal Moukaddam, MD, PhD
President, National Arab American Medical Association (NAAMA)
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