IMANE's 40th annual meeting was held on Sunday Nov 10, 2018 at Ambrosia Banquet Hall in Foxborough, MA.  Dr. Amita Chopra was the keynote speaker. She gave a wonderful talk on - Medicine, Stress and Meditation – A Scientific Research Basis. 

The event opened with a few remarks by Vikas Merchia, MD, the President of IMANE. He outlined some of the activities for the year and introduced the keynote speech by Dr. Amita Chopra. A practitioner herself, Dr. Chopra, presented evidence from several research studies that clearly indicate the value of meditation.  She ended the speech with a brief meditation session. 

The meeting also featured two speakers who discussed their community service initiative. The first was Dr. Chander Kapasi, who discussed the opportunities to support the work that AAPI does in India with its charitable clinics.  

The second speaker, Dr. Veena Gandhi, the Chairman of Ekal Vidyalaya’s health initiative presented the opportunities to make a difference in bringing health services to remote rural villages in India. “Ekal Vidyalaya has a presence in over 78000 villages where we run single teacher schools.  We are now adding health as an offering in the villages”. Dr. Gandhi set the stage for how much need there is for  improving the health conditions in the villages. She talked about the medical camps run by Ekal along with the targeted intervention for Anemia that is making a big impact in the villages. 

Several members of IMANE were honored for their contributions to IMANE.   Dr. Saraswathi Muppana, MD, the new President of IMANE, addressed the audience.  Rangila Rhythms had a fabulous presentation of dances that added a fun touch to the evening. Dinner by Olive and Mint was delicious. 

It was wonderful to see this great organization going strong even after 40 years.