Dedicated young pediatrician, Dr Nancy Malek, dies suddenly
The Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, the Faculty of Medicine, and the American University of Beirut Medical Center announced today the untimely death of Dr. Nancy Malek, 38, a dedicated clinical pediatrician. Dr. Malek died from a bleeding cerebral aneurysm.
“It is with deep sorrow and incredible shock that we have to inform you of the untimely death, yesterday, of Dr. Nancy Malek from a bleeding cerebral aneurysm,” said a joint statement made by Dr. Mohamad Mikati, chairman of the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, and Dr. Nadim Cortas, vice president for Medical Affairs and the Raja N. Khuri Dean, Faculty of Medicine at AUB.
“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,” the statement added. “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. We pray that God will give them, and us, the strength and patience to endure what must be the most difficult experience any family can go through.”
Dr. Malek graduated with an MD degree from St. Joseph University Medical School in Beirut in 1996 and completed a two-year pediatric residency program at Saint Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital at Columbia University and one year of Adult Neurology residency at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Cornell University Medical Center. She then completed her Pediatric Neurology Fellowship at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Cornell University Medical Center in June 2001. Dr. Malek is certified by the American Board in Neurology with special qualification in child neurology. She also acquired a Masters degree in health and hospital management from the Ecole Superieure des Affaires, Beirut, and Université Paris Diderot – Paris 7.
In April 2002, she 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 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 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, wrote earlier this year that “Dr. Malek proved to be a very superior fellow in New York—she was energetic and dedicated’. When Dr. Malek visited AUB earlier this year, Dr. Rose Mary Boustani stated that ‘Dr. Malek gave a scholarly and masterful talk on spasticity and won the hearts of the entire faculty membership of the Department of Pediatrics… Nancy was full of life and joy’.
Funeral services will take place on Tuesday June 10, 2008, at 5 PM, at the Virgin Mary Church in Mansourieh, Metn. Condolences will be received at the same place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between 10 AM and 7 PM.
