Krishna K. Sawhney

Krishna K. Sawhney, a general vascular surgeon from Detroit, has been named the president of the Illinois-based American Medical Association (AMA) Foundation for 2004-2005, according to a press release.

Sawhney was the Foundation’s vice president last year and will serve as president until next June. He succeeds Duane M. Cady, who is chair-elect of the AMA Board of Trustees.

“I am greatly honored and humbled by this opportunity to lead the AMA Foundation,” Sawhney said. “With the help and generosity of my fellow physicians, we can take this Foundation to the next level of support for our patients and future physicians.”

As the philanthropic arm of the nation’s largest physician association, the AMA Foundation supports a wide range of programs designed to improve the health care of all Americans. The Foundation provides scholarships for medical students, grants for research and community-based programs, and educational resources on important issues like health literacy.

“I am very excited about the many innovative and effective programs happening at the Foundation,” Sawhney said. “Just this year, we launched a $10,000 scholarship for 10 minority medical students and awarded a new National Scholarship. We’ve also sent out nearly 10,000 health literacy kits to physicians and other health care professionals, and awarded 25 Fund for Better Health grants to support programs on anti-violence, substance abuse prevention, and nutrition and fitness.”

Sawhney was appointed to the AMA Foundation board of directors in January 2001. He also serves in the Michigan delegation to the AMA House of Delegates, and is a director of the American Medical Political Action Committee.

“I feel very confident turning over the Foundation to the leadership of Dr. Sawhney,” Dr. Cady said. “I am certain he will continue to build the organization’s financial resources and support the programs put in place to ensure the American health care system stays strong for future generations.”

He is on the staff of Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital, and serves as chief of surgery, Downriver region, for the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. He is also a clinical associate professor of surgery at Wayne State University School of Medicine. He has served as regent and chair of the International Board of Regents at the International College of Surgeons, and was a member of the Board of Governors for the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Sawhney completed his doctorate in medicine at Rajendra Medical College in Ranchi, and came to the U.S. in 1968, completing an internship at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, N.Y., followed by a residency in pathology in Washington, D.C.