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07.18.03

Helping hands in Afghanistan
 

evin Parker (right) has changed his outfit, but not his concern for the welfare of children. As a research fellow in the Surgical Research Labs at Children's until 2001, he studied disease and how to stop it; as a captain in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, currently stationed in Afghanistan, he has seen first-hand the plight of the region's children and wanted to do something about it. He contacted friends and colleagues around the country—including here at Children's—asking for help in creating kits filled with basic hygiene items and medications so the Afghan children he sees every day don’t die from preventable diseases. Parker’s request drew an outpouring of support, including several thousand dollars from Children's, and the kits recently began reaching children in need. Capt. Parker will once again become Dr. Parker when he returns to the States this fall as a professor in Harvard's Division of Health Sciences and Technology.