20 YEARS
Baby Roxana Stamboulian was far from learning how to walk when her father, Daniel, decided to take the most important step in his professional career: moving to the United States to specialize in infectious diseases. Decades later, she took on the responsibility of leading FIDEC in that same country and in 2020 she assumed the same leading role at FUNCEI, in Argentina. In this interview, she shares her views of the past, present and future of these organizations, funded and led by Dr. Stamboulian, and reveals the philosophy behind her leadership.
What are your earliest memories at FIDEC?
I still remember arriving in Miami in 2002, two years after I had moved to the United States with my husband, Gustavo, who took an MBA course from Tuck School of Business, at Dartmouth College. In parallel, FIDEC was established in New York, with Sarkis Boghalian as ad honorem Director, collaborator, and supporter. The early stages were tough in my business and personal lives, since, in spite of the many years of experience I had gained at FUNCEI in Argentina, we had to adapt to a new system and to a new culture, and learn how non-profit organizations operated in the United States.
At that time, the well-known journalist Bernardo Neustadt introduced us to some friends of his who could help us organize a fund-raiser. This is how we held the first FIDEC Open Golf in Key Biscayne. Thanks to those first 50 participants, we were able to make headway in South Florida and make new friends in Miami that were eager to help and be a part of our foundation. Concurrently, FUNCEI was running the telehealth and second medical opinion program CEDECEM, together with Fundación Pérez Companc, which also supported FIDEC during the first months.
In early 2004, FIDEC hired Valeria Rotholc, who today acts as Director of Finance and Legal Affairs, and I was no longer alone in the day-to-day operations of our organization. I remember we organized the following Open Golf editions and medical conferences with great effort and the support of friends and family. Today FIDEC has a team of seven people working every day towards its goals and mission.
What were the Foundation’s first actions?
In the beginning, we organized conferences for Latin and Hispanic doctors in Miami. During our first year, we worked with Mercy Hospital and Miami Children's Hospital, now Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. Short after the first symposium, we reached an agreement with Dr. Gordon Dickinson, infectious disease specialist at University of Miami, an acquaintance Dr. Stamboulian made in a training session in 1979. This agreement was to organize, with this university, educational activities aimed at physicians and the community. From then on, Dr. Dickinson has worked for FIDEC as a consultant and has helped design and implement educational programs focused, especially, on vaccines.
Since 2004, we have kept organizing medical conferences in Miami, in association with the University of Miami, and replicating them in Argentina to foster collaboration between FIDEC and FUNCEI. Simultaneously, we have implemented research and educational projects in Latin America, with the collaboration of several laboratories with regional headquarters.
The first years of work at FIDEC were, as I mentioned, harder than expected and demanded tons of energy to adapt to the requirements of a new location with its own peculiarities. Our efforts led to a slow but continuous growth. A landmark event in our development was when, in 2012, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation selected FIDEC to conduct a research study on polio vaccines in four Latin-American countries.
What are the current needs in South Florida?
We have been intensely promoting vaccination with Dr. Luján Soler, member of our medical staff, and Dr. Gordon Dickinson. We see a great need for this because, as in other areas in this country, antivaccine groups are very vocal and vaccination rates are much lower than in Argentina. Through time, we have developed strategies and assessed their applicability. We realized the Miami-Dade Vaccine Coalition was not working as in its inception. Since then and especially for the past three years, FIDEC and Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade have lead the Coalition to implement vaccination campaigns and educational activities aimed at physicians, pharmacists, other healthcare professionals, university students, and the community.
In which projects have the community and supporting organizations been most involved, thus leading to a greater impact?
We believe society has deeply and positively engaged in all projects. I especially remember the educational programs in Jujuy (Argentina), carried out in association with FUNCEI and organizations like Ledesma and Rotary. Our foundations’ Education Department has forged a tight bond with the regional school community, formed by both school authorities and supervisors, and students and their families. Our programs have addressed vital topics for these communities, as diverse as the prevention of mosquito-borne diseases and the approach to bullying and emotional health in schools, always aimed at caring for all aspects of children's health. Thanks to the interaction between the beneficiaries and sponsors of the program, this activity has been one of the longest-lasting and most impactful.
Among other social and healthcare projects implemented in areas with conditions very different to what most of us are used to, we can highlight the program in Chaco (Argentina) and the occupational health program in Armenia, in cooperation with the wine company Tierras de Armenia. This latter program has been carried out for over 13 years without interruption and it has provided access to healthcare services that were beyond reach for many workers and their families. Also in Armenia, for several years, FIDEC has operated a healthcare program for women living in the province of Tavush. Before that, some women had never had a gynecological examination.
Another established activity, this time related to healthcare professionals, are the vaccination workshops and training courses or programs in Latin America we have held since FIDEC’s foundation. This program has an added benefit: participants become multiplying agents in their community to amplify the results.
How will FIDEC’s operations continue in light of the pandemic?
The current situation and future outlook lead us to focus even more on promoting vaccine acceptance and use. The prepandemic challenge of increasing vaccination rates in adults is now joined by two new goals: maintaining support of COVID-19 vaccination and increasing child vaccination rates. Ever since the lockdowns and restrictions on circulation imposed in many regions, together with the growing influence of antivaccine groups, child vaccination rates have alarmingly declined. Thus, promoting vaccination of children and teenagers has now become a priority.
Also, as we migrate back from online to in-person activities, a new stage begins for our operations. This is already happening in Miami, where we are back to running campaigns in the consulates of Latin-American countries to increase flu and COVID-19 vaccination rates, and vaccination rates in general.
If we consider FIDEC’s achievements since its creation as pillars of its future, we must certainly mention the partnerships that have enabled our work. Among these, we are proud to highlight our partnership with Fundación Manos del Sur. Ever since our first meetings 20 years ago, we have found joint activities and programs to run together. This has allowed us to enhance the strength of each of the organizations.
You mentioned before that one of the most challenging activities for FIDEC was promoting vaccines among adults and countering the influence of antivaccine groups. Are there other challenges?
For any initiative, our organization also has to face the challenge of fund raising, which is accomplished thanks to the support of people and organizations that share our goals.
What do you expect for the future now that you are also FUNCEI’s Executive Director?
We have always worked together with FUNCEI, but I have a more active role now as Executive Director since 2020. I am determined to strengthen all medical activities in Argentina and to extend them to Latin America. With this in mind, as 2022 approaches, Dr. Hebe Vázquez, Scientific Coordinator at FIDEC and FUNCEI’s Vaccine Workgroup, has put in a great deal of effort in Miami to enhance each of the current vaccine education projects, both for healthcare professionals and the general public.
Along this same line, we focus on Armenia both from the United States and from Argentina. We usually say that FIDEC, FIDEC Armenia and FUNCEI are sister organizations with a common mission, guided by my father. His vision has led our efforts. I think my new role in FUNCEI will let us share much more of the daily activities of these three foundations. This is a great motivation for me because it shifts a bit our perspective to continue working.