User:Ashkfar

Ashkan Farhadi is an Iranian physician, research scientist, and author. Specializing in gastroenterology, Farhadi works for MemorialCare Medical Group in Fountain Valley, California. He had several research ventures exploring the correlations between positive psychology and physical health, specifically by examining the understood perception of happiness. He introduced the idea known as “Duality of Reason.”

Early Life

Farhadi was born and raised in Shiraz, Iran. Growing up during the Iranian Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war, Farhadi experienced the consequences of war on civilian life first hand.

He graduated from Shiraz University High School in 1982 with a pre-Engineering trajectory. However, due to the political turmoil and the impacts of the Revolution on universities in Iran, and the consequent temporary closure of Engineering programs, he changed his major in the Iranian University Entrance Exam for Medical Programs and was accepted to Shiraz Medical School (SUMS) in 1983. He graduated SUMS with honors in 1989 and then served as a Resident of Internal Medicine in SUMS until 1992. He then moved to Tehran and received two years of fellowship in Gastroenterology & Hepatology subspecialty in Shahid Beheshti.

Career

While practicing as a physician, Farhadi was also involved in research, academia, and biomedical engineering. During his time at Shiraz University, Farhadi led a five-year prospective study studying a puzzling medical condition known as Fever of Undetermined Origin as the Principal Investigator. After completing his fellowship in 1994, Farhadi moved to Sari, a small university town in northern Iran. Farhadi served in Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences as an Assistant Professor of Medicine for six years. By the end of his term he was serving as Chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine. During those years he published several articles including an article on Epidemiology of Hepatitis B in Iran that has been quoted the most by other researchers in the field in Iran. He also authored three books in the medical field. He published the first version of his book, “I have IBS. Now What?” for the first time in 1996.

In December 2000, Farhadi immigrated to the United States and settled in Chicago, Illinois as a Visiting Scholar in the Gastroenterology Department at Rush University. He was engaged in research in the field of gastroenterology and in particular, molecular biology at the cellular level. During these years, he was involved in numerous research projects as both a Principal Investigator and a Co-Investigator. He published an article titled” Intestinal barrier: an interface between health and disease” that has been quoted over 400 times by other scientists in their publications. He also published his research on non-chemical distant cellular interaction (NCDCI) that was instrumental in this new filed of research. To his credit he published more than 100 manuscripts and abstracts as author or coauthor during these 10 years at Rush University.

He then moved to California and has been serving as an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine. His latest research entails exploring the role of positive psychology in Irritable Bowel Syndrome. He published his theory on the origin of happiness in an article titled “Is Happiness Overrated? The Duality of Reasons Behind Our Actions.”

Farhadi has several U.S. and international patents. After patenting his first device, a self-propelling colonoscope in 2000, Farhadi has since patented 14 other gastroenterological accessories, methods, and gadgets. His latest invented device titled Izoscope is a novel accessory for performing colonoscopies.

Farhadi has also presented dozens of lectures worldwide regarding his research, discoveries, and knowledge surrounding gastroenterology. In his most notable lecture at the International Symposium on Ultra-weak Photon Emission From Living System in Olomouc, Czech Republic, he discussed the transfer of oxidative stress signals to distant cells. In that meeting, he was instrumental in coining the term NCDCI for the first time and started a website NCDCI.org that ran for a few years, updating researchers about new information in this novel field of science.

Accomplishments

Farhadi began his reputable presence in the medical community early into his career by placing as the first rank in the Board Examination of Internal Medicine. Throughout his career, he has made appearances in publication such as “Who’s Who in America” and “Who’s Who in Science and Engineering”. Farhadi has been named “The Best Young Investigator” by the National Congress of Internal Medicine, Senior Fellow Award by American College of Gastroenterology and “Speaker of the Year” by Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center. Farhadi has received numerous awards including the “Physician of Excellence” award, “Champion of Care” award, and “Hagadorn Award for the Excellence in Patient Care”.

Farhadi has also been featured in dozens of healthcare articles on online forums including U.S. News, Women’s Health, Reader’s Digest, and Huff Post. He authored and coauthored numerous research articles and books in the medical field and recently in the role of positive psychology in medical diseases. However, Farhadi’s most notable accomplishment in the medical community is coining the term NCDCI, or non-chemical distant cellular interaction, in 2007 in order to explain how cells experiencing stress can send their distress signals to distant cells in separate test tubes a few inches away. This finding was instrumental in this up-and-coming fields in medical science and its subsequent research projects.

Personal Life

Farhadi enjoys creating art pieces, playing piano, and writing. Farhadi has become very involved in the relationship between personal happiness and medicine. This passion project has led to the creation of his first non-medical book titled The Evolution of Happiness.

Farhadi has served as an attending physician for Global Medical Brigades clinics in Panama City, Panama, and Managua, Nicaragua.