Humanitarian Zeal

When Natalie Grigorian sees a problem, she prefers tackling it herself. After her sophomore year at the College of General Studies, Grigorian (CGS’05, SAR’07) decided to start a nonprofit organization to promote oral health among Armenian children the following summer.

But Boston University President Emeritus Aram Chobanian (Hon.’06) encouraged her to build her experience before undertaking such a complex project. “He asked if I really knew how much effort and how much time it would take to do this,” she recalls with a laugh.

She took his advice and instead traveled to Armenia that summer to intern for World Vision, a Christian humanitarian nongovernmental organization. Grigorian, who is of Armenian descent, had visited the former Soviet republic when she was 16 and found, she says, “one of the most striking things was that these kids had black plaque all over their teeth.”

When she returned to Armenia with World Vision’s health-care division, she worked on public health projects, such as an avian flu prevention plan. She also immersed herself in both Armenian culture and the realities of the public health field, meeting health ministry officials and other professionals with an eye to one day founding a nonprofit to broaden access to dental care in the still-troubled land of her forebears.

“If you look at Armenian history,” Grigorian says, “they’ve gone through so much,” including the World War I–era genocide. The country is still rebuilding after a devastating 1988 earthquake, and there is persistent unemployment. “Right now, for the most part, they save all their money just to get food,” she says. “And why would a family be concerned about their teeth if they can’t feed their children?”
 
Since her first visit to Armenia, her vision has evolved. “My biggest goal would be to implement community water fluoridation,” she says. “Something where everyone gains access, where everyone benefits. And if that means helping the government write a policy that can be implemented, that would be really cool.” She would also work to educate the population and distribute supplies, such as toothbrushes, in schools.

To help Grigorian gain the experience he had advised her to get, Chobanian introduced her to Myron Allukian, Jr., a clinical assistant professor in BU’s Goldman School of Dental Medicine, who took her on as an assistant. The longtime director of oral health for the Boston Public Health Commission, Allukian is responsible for fluoridating Boston’s water supply. Grigorian, who is studying health science at Sargent College, did research for textbook chapters Allukian is now updating, “Public Health and the Vietnam War” in War and Public Health (Oxford) and “Oral Diseases: The Neglected Epidemic” in Principles of Public Health Practice (Delmar Learning).

Grigorian hopes to continue to combine her love for travel with her passion for public health work. Her goal after graduation is to work in a hospital or community health center for two to three years, after which she hopes to earn an M.B.A. and an M.P.H., acquiring the credibility, she says, to strike out on her own.

For more information about Natalie Grigorian or to contact her, visit her Web site, www.nataliegrigorian.com.

This article will be published in the spring 2007 edition of Collegian.

Patrick Kennedy can be reached at plk@bu.edu.