Mehran Anvari’s ancestral lineage goes back more than a millennium to the fall of the Persian Empire. Over hundreds of years, despite significant pressure and persecution, generations of Mehran’s family remained Zoroastrian, that is, until the 1850s when they embraced the Baha’i faith. Born, Iran, 1959, both Mehran’s father, Nooraldin, and mother, Noorangiz, were pharmacists in Tehran until the Islamic Revolution in Iran erupted, 1978. To avoid persecution and possible death, the family chose to migrate to Canada, settling in Grimbsy, Ontario. Mehran, who had earlier completed his formal education in England, returned there, the same year his family immigrated to Canada, enrolling, University of Newcastle-on-Tyne, completing his medical degree there in five years. After completing one year's internship, Dr. Anvari returned to Canada, enlisted in postgraduate training at McMaster University where he completed a training program in surgery (1984-89). To further his studies in surgery, Dr. Anvari travelled to Adelaide, Australia, to work with Professor John Dent and Glyn Jamieson, pioneers in gastrointestinal mobility at the University of Adelaide. After three years additional training, Dr. Anvari graduated with a Ph.D. in “gastric motor function and the influence of gastric surgery.” Anxious to rejoin his family in Canada, Dr. Anvari set up a clinical practice, 1992, at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Hamilton, Ontario, and was appointed Associate Professor, with tenure, Department of Surgery, McMaster University. Recently made Director, Centre of Minimal Access Surgery (CMAS), McMaster University, 1999, Dr. Anvari is recognized internationally as an expert in the field of minimum access surgery. His revolutionary treatment for gastrointestinal disorders has brought lucrative offers to go elsewhere. He has remained in Canada, never the less, because Canada’s multicultural policies are the closest to his own spiritual beliefs. In this view, Dr. Anvari, Director, CMAS, stands in the foyer of the recently opened centre, November 1999. [Photo, courtesy Dr. Mehran Anvari]