Beaver State News

HELPING OTHERS IS EMBEDDED IN HER DNA. 

Kindness and generosity go back generations in Saba Moallem’s family. And because of their bravery and sacrifices, she sees the world through a humble lens — and wants to build on their example.

Moallem’s family story began in Iran in the mid-1980s when her parents were just 16 and 17. Her mother’s home was set on fire as an act of persecution against the family’s Bahá’i faith, a religion that originated in the Middle East in the 19th century and focuses on the unity and equality of all people. But the Bahá’i faith is not recognized by the government, and those who follow it have been widely persecuted in Iran for decades.

Moallem’s mother and grandparents were able to escape their home through a small window crack, only to be met by more people attempting to block their escape. At just the right moment, an acquaintance arrived to pick them up. He risked his life to save them because Moallem’s grandmother, a midwife, had delivered the man’s wife’s baby. Moallem’s grandfather, a pharmacist, had saved the man’s father’s life by providing medication they couldn’t otherwise afford.

Following their rescue, Moallem’s mother and father met by chance — when their families gathered together to plan their final escape from Iran. Her father was asked to look over her mother as they joined a group of fellow teenagers on a harrowing journey to the United States, with nothing but a small bag of almonds and a few gold coins that were sewn into her mother’s skirt. They arrived in the U.S. in 1989 and married in 1992.

Because her parents went through so much to get to America and build a new life for their family, Moallem’s drive to give back is incredibly strong. A fourth-year computer science student in the College of Engineering, she wants to develop artificial intelligence applications for medical procedures, a way to reduce patient risks and increase survival rates, and a field where she is looking forward to gaining real-world experience.

Moallem’s career goal is inspired by her relationship with her maternal grandmother, who left Iran in 1995 and joined the family in Oregon. She got sick and was considered too high-risk to undergo the procedure she needed. But AI could help reduce some patient risks — by allowing doctors to program a robot to perform full surgical procedures or controlling and moving the robot themselves throughout the surgery. This reduces potential human errors like the slightest shake of a hand.

 

Original source can be found here