Much like the medical profession, running the marathon requires commitment and perseverance, and Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine Arafat Tfayli accomplished this feat twice, running the Oklahoma marathon in 2005 and 2006.

Added to these key attributes, modesty and a general sense of gratitude are always commendable.  “I am grateful to Naif Basile for giving me the opportunity to come back to AUBMC,” said Dr. Tfayli, who joined the Department of Internal Medicine’s Division of Hematology/Oncology as a member of the Naif K. Basile Cancer Institute in September 2009.

Always having wanted to be a doctor, Tfayli received his MD from AUB with distinction in 1995, then finished  his internal medicine residency at the State University of New York in Stony Brook, spending an additional year there as chief resident.

After completing his fellowship in hematology/oncology at Georgetown University, where he spent a year as chief fellow, Tfayli did a one-year fellowship in bone marrow transplantation.

Since 2002, Tfayli has been a faculty member at Oklahoma University, becoming an associate professor of medicine and also the director of the hematology/oncology fellowship program. Dr. Tfayli is board certified in internal medicine, hematology, and medical oncology.

Currently Tfayli’s research is focused on better tailoring chemo and hormonal agents for individual patients with breast cancer, a valuable study as Lebanese women seem to contract the tumor at a young age. “Although we have fewer cases of breast cancer in Lebanon than in the West, the sufferers here tend to get the disease at an earlier age—during their thirties and even twenties,” explained Dr. Tfayli, the author of several peer-reviewed papers.

Tfayli likes to read biographies of leaders and to listen to both classical music and Fairuz. Married with three children, he enjoys shared interests with his family: “My son is learning Arabic at school and loves Fairuz, and I learn the piano with my kids,” added Tfayli, who also considers running an essential part of his weekly activity. “To me running is psychotherapy and the ultimate stress relief; I try to cover at least 25 kilometers every week,” he concluded.