Bashkim Kadriu, M.D.

Witnessing the ravaging effects of a war inspired an Albanian student to study medicine and learn how to heal the mind and the body.

After living through the war in Kosova and witnessing the psychological fear and hatred it produced, Kadriu was compelled to help
those around him, using the skills acquired as a first-year medical student. He had an opportunity to research and work at a center sponsored by the Center of Disease Control and Prevention that screened returning refugees for posttraumatic stress disorder. Dr. Kadriu felt a kinship with his fellow survivors, and saw the horrible mental impact from the ravages of war. He noticed how each person’s experience of the same trauma was fundamentally different.
He was intrigued by questions regarding the biological and psychological substrates of these differences, and decided to pursue a career that would
uncover these processes.