[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 86 (Thursday, May 19, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E541]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING DR. MARIAM ESAT AS A DISTINGUISHED LEADER IN CENTRAL FLORIDA 
         FOR ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH

                                  _____
                                 

                            HON. DARREN SOTO

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 19, 2022

  Mr. SOTO. Madam Speaker, Dr. Mariam Esat immigrated to the United 
States in 1986 from Zimbabwe. In 1982, at the age of 23, she graduated 
as a medical doctor from the University of Zimbabwe.
  Through dedication and despite a scarcity of resources, she was able 
to beat the odds and gained acceptance to an internal medicine 
residency program at New York Downtown Hospital in 1987. She then 
pursued an infectious disease fellowship at the Manhattan Veterans 
Administration Hospital/New York University. She is American Board 
certified in both internal medicine and infectious diseases. At the 
height of the HIV epidemic, she joined Columbia University/Harlem 
Hospital as an assistant professor, serving the underprivileged 
population where she participated in HIV clinical trials at a time when 
the disease was feared, and much was unknown. She then returned to 
Zimbabwe for several years as there was a huge need in Sub-Saharan 
Africa for her expertise where HIV was rampant.
  In 2003, she returned with her family to the United States. Since 
then, she has treated countless patients throughout the Florida 
hospital systems. As president of infectious disease consultancy 
services, P.L. in Hunters Creek, she serves the private sector in 
Orange and Osceola Counties.
  Dr. Esat has worked relentlessly teaching medical staff, and together 
as a team, they have been in the front line as first responders in the 
management of patients with COVID-19. She has worked diligently to save 
lives throughout the hospitals and intensive care units. She initiated 
new treatment protocols as the disease unraveled and knowledge about 
the disease was evolving at lightning speed.
  She has held many leadership positions including chairman of the Peer 
Review, Pharmacy and Therapeutics, and Antimicrobial Stewardship 
Committees, member of the Medical Executive and Crisis Care Committees, 
and served on the Board of Trustees at Osceola Regional Medical Center.

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