Remembering A Dear Friend: Sujal Parikh

UAEM's dear friend, Sujal Parikh, passed away Tuesday of injuries sustained in a serious traffic accident in Uganda, where he was Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholar.  It is with a great deal of heartache that we grieve his untimely passing.  

Sujal was an active member of the UAEM chapter at the University of Michigan and a tireless advocate for the health and wellbeing of people worldwide.  Sujal had served in health clinics in rural Uganda, written extensively about global health issues, and in general had dedicated his life to eradicating global health inequities.  To say his passing is a loss to our community and the world at large is an understatement.

It is, of course, a personal loss to the many of us who knew him for his caring friendship, open heart, and infectious passion for life.  We will not soon heal from his passing but can hold on tightly to his memory to inspire our own lives.

The greatest service we can pay to Sujal’s memory is to continue to champion the causes he worked so hard for.  UAEM can forward any comments or condolences to Sujal’s parents.  Please send anything you would like to share with Sujal’s parents or have posted in this remembrance space to sujal.memories@essentialmedicine.org.  If you have any pictures of Sujal you would like to share, please send them to same email address and we will post them to this page.  We will also share photos with friends who are gathering them to share with Sujal’s parents.

A memorial fund has been set up and donations are accepted here: http://www.giving.umich.edu/give/med-parikh.  Sujal's parents will decide how the funds will be spent in the coming weeks.  Please note that the donor can mark the box labeled, "My gift is in honor/memory of someone" in order to make it a true memorial gift.  Even though the gift is being directed to the named fund, some donors like to specify that it is indeed in Sujal's memory.

Sujal's own inspirational blog is here: http://sujalparikh.blogspot.com/.

Anyone needing support during this difficult time can contact the following support staff from the Fogarty Center.  If you’d just like to talk, you can call UAEM’s office any time (510-868-1159).

Catherine Lem, MPH

Director of Operations and Management

Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholars & Fellows Support Center

catherine [dot] lem [at] vanderbilt [dot] edu

Office: 615 343 3555

Uganda Village Project memorial page

University of Michigan Center for Global Health memorial page

Sujal memorial page for friends and family

Physicians for Human Rights memorial page