In a nutshell, I was born on April 21, 1957 and I have lived in Washington D.C. since I was 7 years old after my family moved here from Egypt. I was born about 10 minutes from the Great Pyramids of Giza, which probably explains my marginal tolerance for cold weather. I spent the first 7 years of my life in Alexandria, Egypt and then my father decided to move the family to the U.S. in 1964 during the Nasser regime. My father built the largest cement company in Egypt. The company was nationalized, i.e. stolen by the government in 1962. My father worked for the World Bank until he retired in 1988. I grew up in Bethesda, Maryland, attended Walt Whitman High School (AKA Superschool according to the Washington Post) and I have been in the area ever since. I completed my undergraduate work at Johns Hopkins in 1978 and then attended George Washington University Medical School graduating in 1982. I did my Internal Medicine Residency at Washington Hospital Center where I was also the Chief Medical Resident in 1985-86. I completed a Fellowship in Hematology in 1989 and I have been in private practice ever since. I am Board Certified and have been in private practice for 18 years. In addition to primary health care management for adults (aka Internal Medicine), I specialize in HIV disease management and have one of the largest HIV practices in the area. My interest in HIV is on the cutting edge and includes many current and past clinical trials. My Hematology areas of expertise are HIV related blood disorders and malignancies, Hematologic disorders of reproductive age women, and clotting and bleeding disorders. Those that have been to my office can attest to my claim that it is probably the most interesting, and definitely the coolest doctor's office anywhere. I feel very fortunate in that I love my work while providing a valuable service for the community. I feel very close to my patients, and I consider most of them my friends. My objective is to provide the best care possible with the most up to date technology available in an atmosphere that is comfortable and familiar to my patients. Nine years ago, I established the Metropolis Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization which raises funds to support local and national AIDS causes. With the support of hundereds of friends and the efforts of many volunteers, we have contributed over $190,000 to a variety of organizations including Whitman Walker Clinic, Food and Friends, AMFAR, HIV Community Coalition, Northern Virginia AIDS Ministries, Metro Teen AIDS, SMYAL, just to name a few...as well as some non-AIDS organizations such as Big Brothers, The Arthritis Foundation, Children's Hospital, NGLTF, and The Victory Fund. Thanks to all those who have played a part in making Metropolis a success. In the past, I served on the board of Whitman Walker Clinic for over 10 years, seven of which I chaired the development commitee. With regards to my history with photography, I have been seriously taking photos for about 17 years. The majority of my work has been spontaneous rather than posed. I have attempted to illustrate life as it is, while highlighting the more beautiful aspects of our community. As I have often said, there is so much beauty around us which is so easy to overlook because of the many problems and stresses that we regularly encounter. But with only a little bit of effort, it's easy to stop and take a little bit of time to appreciate some of what is beautiful around us. Not only beautiful things, but also people who are wonderful in so many ways. I have tried to illustrate my philosophy on life through my photography. I enjoy doing all kinds of things. I am basically a pop culture hound. I love all kinds of Movies, and TV shows. I am a true audiophile...I like everything from the most progressive house/dance music (Go Junior) to hard rock, heavy metal, jazz, opera, show tunes, new age, modern rock....and I am an avid Redskins and Nationals fan...just to name a few of my interests. And yes, I go to the gym about 3 times a week.