Mohamed Sharawy, B.D.S., Ph.D., An Accomplished International Scientist and Academician

jima.imana.org In this issue of JIMA, I am pleased to profile a dear friend and an accomplished international academician. Dr. Mohamed Sharawy was one of the handful of Muslims in Augusta, Georgia, in 1970, when he moved there. He was one of two Egyptian Americans and one of three foreign faculty members at the Medical College of Georgia at that time. Dr. Sharawy had a great influence on my decision to move to Augusta with my wife, Dr. Skina Fadel, and our two sons in 1975. He is the first dentist that we profile in JIMA, and I hope this will encourage other dentists to join our organization. Dr. Sharawy is professor and director of oral biology/anatomy and professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery at the College of Dental Medicine and professor of anatomy and cell biology at the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) and the College of Graduate Studies at the Georgia Health Sciences University (GHSU). Dr. Sharawy was born in Cairo, Egypt. He received his bachelor of dental surgery with honors (BDS) in 1962 and followed it by three years of oral and maxillofacial training. He received his diploma and science medallion in 1963 from Egyptian President Nasser for the highest achievement among graduating dentists. Dr. Sharawy received a Fulbright Scholarship to study for a doctor of philosophy in the United States. In 1970, he earned his degree in anatomical sciences from the School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York. Dr. Sharawy joined the faculty of the School of Dentistry at MCG in Augusta in 1970 and became one of the initiators and developers of the new school. During the next 40 years, in addition to teaching undergraduate students and consistently working on extramurally funded research, he became deeply interested in international advanced education. Dr. Sharawy was one of the developers of joint supervision programs for dentists in Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries. In this program, a promising dentist would register for a doctor of philosophy in his country and then choose two advisors, one from his home country and the other from the United States. After passing graduate courses and qualifying examinations in his native country, the candidate would join a research laboratory for two years at MCG, now renamed GHSU. Then, the doctorial candidate would write a thesis and go back to his home country to defend it in the presence of the foreign advisor. Dr. Sharawy served as a mentor and major advisor for more than 37 dentists from Egypt. The research projects often addressed questions related to bone, local growth factors, implants, and the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). The research papers were published in dental and medical literature with the student names often listed first. These graduated dentists are now professors at their respective universities in Egypt and are serving as doctorial advisors. In addition to the joint supervision program, Dr. Sharawy served as a major advisor for doctorial candidates from the Middle East, Korea, and China. Dr. Sharawy is highly active in continuing education, offering numerous participation courses in the United States, Canada, India, Europe, and the Middle East. Dr. Sharawy, through the American Academy of Implant Dentistry (AAID), was one of the initiators and developers of the comprehensive course in implant dentistry (MAXI). The course provides more than 300 hours of instruction that includes 50 hours of surgical anatomy for implantologists. The MAXI course is in its 18th year at GHSU. In addition, he is a significant contributor to the MAXI course at Howard University; University of Oregon; University of Texas at San Antonio; University of Vancouver, Canada; New Jersey College of Dental Medicine; and the University of Nevada. This course is also conducted internationally in Cairo, Egypt; Los Algodones, Mexico; New Delhi, India; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Penang, Malaysia; and Irbid, Jordan. Dr. Sharawy has participated in the percepMohamed Sharawy, B.D.S., Ph.D. An Accomplished International Scientist and Academician Profile