British-Syrian Connection

Bashar al-Assad (Arabic: بشار الأسد‎, Bašār al-Asad) (born September 11, 1965) is the President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Regional Secretary of the Baath Party, and the son of former President Hafez al-Assad

Standing about 6' 3", Assad has a distinct physical build. He speaks English from an intermediate to an advanced level and is fluent in French, having studied at the Franco-Arab al-Hurriyet elite school in Damascus, before going on to medical school at the University of Damascus Faculty of Medicine. He then went on to get subspecialty training in ophthalmology in London's academic hospitals. He is married to Asma' al-Akhras, a Syrian Sunni Muslim whom he met in Great Britain, where she was born and raised.

Asma al-Assad (born August 11, 1975) is the First Lady of Syria. Born in London, England, she married Syrian President Bashar Assad in 2000, having previously pursed a career in merchant banking.

Unlike previous Syrian First Ladies, she has maintained a higher profile at state, diplomatic, and charitable events. Since 2004 Asma al-Assad has held a Honorary Doctorate in Archaeology from La Sapienza University, Rome.

She is the daughter of prominent Syrian physician Fawaz Akhras.

Fawas Akhras is a London, England-based, Syrian cardiologist. He is a founding Director of the British Syrian Society and is involved with a number of Syrian causes.

FAWAZ AKHRAS is the Clinical Director of Cardiac and Medical Health Services and Consultant Cardiologist at the Cromwell Hospital in London. He completed his postgraduate studies at King College Hospital-University of London, where he also obtained his higher degree in Internal Medicine and Cardiology.

In 1992 during his post as Senior Lecturer in Cardiology at the Westminster and Charing Cross Hospitals, he was appointed Chief of Cardiology at King Fahd Military Hospital in Jeddah where he was responsible for the creation of a new cardiac department. This proved to be an exciting challenge and culminated in a state of the art fully operational non-invasive and interventional cardiac programme.

He developed the first interventional cardiac research programme in Syria, which has subsequently led to their integration into multi-centre European research studies. His work at present is focused on his primary interest in interventional cardiology, which provides the platform for his on-going clinical research. He is the principal investigator of the Syrian arm of an international study of 5,000 real world (unselected) patients with coronary artery disease looking at the long-term results of the Infinnium Paclitaxel Eluting Stent (IPES) in such patients.

Such an achievement came on the back of his extensive experience in clinical cardiac research. He has published a large number of research papers in international medical journals, and presented numerous lectures at both national and international scientific conferences. He is also known for his marked contribution to the development of the first physiological pacemaker, which is now widely used around the world in the treatment of patients with heart block.

He is the recipient of several awards in recognition of his personal contribution to clinical and scientific research in cardiology that bridge the basic and clinical sciences.

He is a fellow of the European Society of Cardiology, the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, the British Cardiac Society, the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society and the British Society of Echocardiography.

He is actively engaged in teaching and he is a member of the Order of William Harvey for Education in recognition of his commitment to education at the American College of Cardiology.

He is a founder member and Co Chairman of the British Syrian Society in London and Damascus.

Sources:

Wikipedia

http://www.britishsyriansociety.org