"The Transformative Power of Gratitude" Khutbah by Dr. Altaf Saadi (2/22/19)

Khateebah Dr. Altaf Saadi delivers a beautiful khutbah on "The Transformative Power of Gratitude" for The Women's Mosque of America's 50th jumma'a on February 22nd, 2019. In her khutbah, Dr. Saadi explores the deeper meanings of the famous repeated verse in Surah Rahman, "So which of your Lord's favors will you deny?" as well as two poems by the famous Persian poet Hafiz. Through her perspective as a neurologist, Dr. Saadi also shares how the practice of gratitude can benefit us by transforming our thought process over time, and how the emotion of gratitude can compel us into more generous behavior with one another. She ends with a helpful explanation on the differences between Shi'a and Sunni prayer.

Bio:
Dr. Altaf Saadi is a neurologist, Clinical Instructor of Medicine, and fellow at the National Clinician Scholars Program at the University of California, Los Angeles, a fellowship program focused on training physician-leaders to address health inequities through scholarship and action. She completed her neurology training at the Harvard Partners Neurology Program at Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s Hospitals in Boston, where she also served as chief resident.

During her residency, Dr. Saadi's interest in health equity led her to work in resource-limited settings in Zambia, Tanzania, the Navajo Nation, with Boston Healthcare for the Homeless, and the Doctors Without Borders telemedicine program. She is an expert volunteer and asylum evaluator for the Physicians for Humans Asylum network, having conducted medical and psychological evaluations for individuals seeking asylum, both in the community and in immigration detention centers. She has also assessed the medical conditions of confinement in immigration detention at facilities in Texas and California, including with Human Rights First and Disability Rights California. Her research and advocacy focus on health inequities among racial/ethnic minority and immigrant communities, identifying policy and community-based solutions to address these inequities, and enhancing diversity within the medical workforce.

Most recently, Dr. Saadi’s work has focused on understanding how health care facilities can ensure that all patients feel safe when accessing health care regardless of their immigration status, and exploring the concept of “sanctuary” and “safe spaces” in the clinical setting. Her academic work and commentary has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, The British Medical Journal, the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics, Neurology, among others. She is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Medical School, where she graduated Cum Laude and received the Dean's Community Service Award. She also received her MS in Health Policy and Management from UCLA.