Dr. Mahmoud Ghannoum

 

Director of Medical Mycology at Case Western Reserve University

 

by Sade Jenkins, crew 1

 

 

“Select a career that you love.” This advice comes from a Cleveland doctor and professor, Dr.Ghannoum, 63, who is developing a revolutionary spray that kills the germs inside of our mouths. Ghannoum is a Cleveland Renaissance person because his spray might change the world.

 

The first thing he did to even come up with this spray, was to study garlic. He studied garlic because it kills germs that are harmful for humans. Studying garlic then led to him studying fungus, which is also known as mycology. Then an idea sparked into his head. If he developed this spray to kill germs, then less people would get infections. “We have a new way to cure infections”, says Dr.G. He then developed an experiment to see if there is a difference between fungi in patients with AIDS and patients who are healthy. “We discovered that there is a change in the mouth in the organisms of HIV patients.” They noticed that when the germ ‘Candida’ is present, there is another germ ‘Pichia’ present. This is when the spray Halo comes into action. Halo is a germ killing spray that you spray in your mouth.

 

His main focus in his organization is to help patients. Not only does it help patients, but he says, “It helps me personally, my friends, society as well.” His organization was first recognized when he made a publication in 2010. He says it took him took him 5 years to develop this spray. “Things just don’t happen very quickly, they take time.” It’s not only Americans who need this spray. “People are all the same. We all have the same needs,” says Dr.G. So really, this spray could go worldwide. So far, the accomplishments have been rewarding. His product is now sold in drug stores.

 

Some patients believe that vaccines are wrong. Dr.G’s opinion on this is, “This is very wrong!” He believes that vaccines are very important. “With vaccines many childhood diseases could be prevented.” Many parents believe that there is a risk to getting vaccines. “But the risks are very low compared to the many benefits,” Dr.G exclaims. With vaccines diseases such as Polio and many more can be prevented.  Dr.G says, “The problem a lot of the time is that parents don’t know, they need to be educated.”

 

Dr.G has a lot of future plans for his spray. He hopes that he can continue to do research and advance in the field and become a good mentor and most importantly stop the spread of infectious diseases. This product might become the next big thing! Since the product is already sold in CVS, it might be in more stores. “I hope we can have a new drug and do clinical trials,” says Dr.G.

 

He also wants to pass on what he learned to other people. “Select a career that you love. We spend our whole lives working, so it’s important to find something you love,” he exclaims. Dr.G didn’t grow up in a wealthy family. He needed to work to get this far. His mother did not know how to read or write. His mom told him all the time ‘Study, Study!’ His education is what got him into the United States. Education is the key to getting far in life. His father always said, “They can take everything from you, but they can’t take your education.” We never know how worldwide this spray will go, but we do know that it WILL change lives. Dr.G wants all students to know, “If it is one word – education.”