REGO PARK, N.Y. — Edmund L. Gergerian, MD of Rego Park died on January 29, 2022. He was 82.
Classically trained in Cairo, Egypt, Edmund attended College De La Salle and Cairo University. After immigrating to the United States in 1968 he completed his pathology fellowship at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia. He completed his internship at West Jersey Hospital followed by his Psychiatric residency at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA. He then completed a research fellowship in Clinical Psychiatry at State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center.
He married Therese Kavoukian in 1969 and within a couple of years had two daughters Nayiri and Taleen.
He was clinical director at the South Beach Psychiatric Center in Staten Island, NY and had been the chief psychiatrist at the Staten Island Developmental Disabilities Services Office until present. In addition, he was an attending psychiatrist at the New York Armenian Home in Flushing, NY until it closed. All the while he had a part time private practice in psychiatry and energy work.
Edmund had extensive research experience and training which included studies on facial expressions, on which he co-authored the book, Atlas of Facial Expressions, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Genocidal Trauma Research, EMDR and EFT Balancing Technique.
A humanitarian with a deep interest in human rights, Edmund participated in several missions of mercy trips to Soviet Armenia following the earthquake in Armenia in 1988, specifically to Yerevan, Spitak, Kirovakan and Karabakh. He was awarded the Humanitarian Assistance Award by President Levon Ter-Petrosian in 1994, the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Armenian Behavioral Science Association, Recognition Award from the Armenian American Society on Stress and Genocide and finally the AAHPO Service Award for his hard work and selfless dedication.