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II&M successfully attended the ISNA convention and had engaging discussions from the 1st to the 4th of September.
Announcing Final Cohort: 'Introduction to the Field of Islamic Bioethics' Course Starts in September! Enjoy 50% off using the 'BIOETHICS50' Code.
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Latest News
II&M successfully attended the ISNA convention and had engaging discussions from the 1st to the 4th of September.
Announcing Final Cohort: 'Introduction to the Field of Islamic Bioethics' Course Starts in September! Enjoy 50% off using the 'BIOETHICS50' Code.
initiativemedicine

Aasim I. Padela, MD, MSc

Aasim I. Padela, MD, MSc

Chairperson and Director of Initiative on Islam and Medicine
Contact Details
  • Phone : 414-955-1175
  • apadela@mcw.edu
  • 19-J David Road H Block, Orlando, USA
  • http://www.medicineandislam.com
Courses of Expertise
  • Islamic Banking
  • Philanthropy & Needs
  • Shariah Laws
  • Modern Islam
Professor and Vice Chair of Research and Scholarship, Department of Emergency Medicine
Professor of Bioethics and Medical Humanities, Institute of Health & Equity
The Medical College of Wisconsin

Dr. Aasim Padela is an internationally-recognized thought and research leader in the fields of Muslim health disparities and Islamic Bioethics. In addition to leading the Initiative on Islam and Medicine, he maintains an active clinical, research, and bioethics practice at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Dr. Padela holds an MD from Weill Cornell Medical College and received an MSc in Healthcare Research from the University of Michigan. He completed residency in emergency medicine at the University of Rochester, and clinical medical ethics training at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago. He also holds Bachelor’s degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Classical Arabic from the University of Rochester, and has studied Islamic theology and law in seminary and academic settings nationally and abroad.

As a scholar, Dr. Padela’s focus is on the intersections of healthcare, bioethics, and religion. Overall, his scholarship aims at improving health and healthcare through better accommodating religious values in healthcare delivery. Using Muslim Americans and Islam as a model, he studies how (i) religion impacts patient health behaviors and healthcare experiences, (ii) informs the professional identities and workplace experiences of clinicians, and (iii) furnishes bioethical guidance to patients, providers, policy-makers, and religious leaders. This knowledge is subsequently mobilized towards educational and policy interventions. His projects cover critical issues related to cancer screening, organ donation, end-of-life care, and the intersection of religion and science. This work has been funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, the Templeton Religion Trust, the American Cancer Society, the Health Research and Services Administration, the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the Greenwall Foundation, the Institute for Social Policy & Understanding, and other foundations.

As a scholar and thought-leader, he has authored over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and three forthcoming books on Islam and Biomedicine and Ethics. He has also delivered dozens of keynote lectures and seminars across the globe, and has consulted with religious and health authorities on topics related to policy and ethics. Critically, his work and expert commentary has been featured in multiple leading media outlets including the New York TimesUSA Today, the Chicago TribuneWashington PostNational Public Radio, BBC, and CNN.  As a service to the profession, he holds editorial positions for the Encyclopedia of Islamic Bioethics, the American Journal of BioethicsBMC Medical Ethics, Global Bioethics, the International Journal of Islam, BETIM Journal of Medical Humanities, and TAHFIM Journal of Islam and the Contemporary World.

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Mufti Nazim Khutbah

Padela Khutbah

Shkifah Khutbah

Intervention Study

Qualitative Study and Interviews

Fifty Muslim multiethnicity women (40 years old and above) were interviewed (6 focused group) and 19 in individual interviews. We found religious beliefs did informed mammography intention, which includes (1) the perceived religious duty to care for one’s health, (2) religious practices as methods of disease prevention, (3) fatalistic notions about health, and (4) comfort with gender concordant health care.

Quantitative Study and survey

240, 40 years of age or older, were surveyed (72 respondents were Arab, 71 South Asian, 59 African American, and 38 from another ethnicity). We found that positive religious coping and perceived religious discrimination in health settings significantly (negatively) affected mammogram adherence among Muslim women in Chicago.

American Cancer Society mammogram recommendations

Mammogram recommendation for women at average risk or breast cancer

  • Women between 40 and 44 have a choice to have a mammography every year.
  • Women 45 to 54 should get mammograms every year.
  • Women 55 and older can switch to a mammogram every other year, or they can choose to continue yearly mammograms.

3R model

Reframing “switch train tracks”
  • Keep the barriers belief intact but change the way one thinks about it so it is consonant with the desired health behavior
  • Normalizes the barrier belief
Reprioritize: “show them a better train”
  • Introduce a new belief and create higher valence for it than the barrier belief
  • Normalization of the barrier belief is optional
Reform: “breakdown the train carriage”
  • Negate the barrier belief by demonstrating its faults by appealing to authority structures

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