In Memoriam

Late Dr. Nancy Malek

It was with deep sorrow and sudden shock that the AUB community was informed of the untimely death from a bleeding cerebral aneurysm of Dr. Nancy Malek on June 8.

Dr. Malek graduated with an MD from St. Joseph University Medical School in Beirut in 1996. She completed a two-year pediatric residency program at Saint Luke's Roosevelt Hospital at Columbia University and a one-year residency in adult neurology at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Cornell University Medical Center. She also earned a pediatric neurology fellowship at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Cornell University Medical Center in June 2001. Dr. Malek was certified by the American Board in neurology with special qualifications in child neurology. She also acquired a master's degree in health and hospital management from the Ecole Superieure des Affaires, Beirut, and Université Paris Diderot.

In April 2002, Dr. Malek started her practice in Lebanon in pediatric neurology as an attending/full staff member at Saint Georges Hospital, Balamand University Medical Center, Beirut, and was also a consultant for several hospitals and child health organizations in the country. On May 12, 2008, Dr. Malek joined the Faculty of Medicine at the American University of Beirut as an instructor of clinical pediatrics and as a full-time member of the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Dr. Abe Chutorian, emeritus director of pediatric neurology at New York Presbyterian Hospital, had written earlier this year that "Dr. Malek proved to be a very superior fellow in New York-she was so energetic and dedicated." When Dr. Malek was at AUB earlier this year to give a talk, Dr. Rose Mary Boustani said: "Dr. Malek gave a scholarly and masterful talk on spasticity and won the hearts of the entire faculty of the Department of Pediatrics….Nancy was full of life and joy."

In expressing condolences, Dr. Nadim Cortas, vice president for Medical Affairs, and Dr. Mohamad Mikati, chairman of the Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine Department, said: "During her short stay with us, Dr. Malek very quickly won the hearts of everybody who knew her, with her friendly personality, soft spoken intelligence, quiet demeanor, and her superb dedication and excellent skills as a physician. Her untimely death leaves us, literally, in complete shock. She will be sorely missed by us, by her colleagues at St. Georges Hospital, and everywhere in Lebanon by her patients, and of course by her family. Our hearts go out to them."