The Aiia Maasarwe Memorial Medical Fellowship will be launched in October during a visit to Melbourne by Saaed Maasarwe, the father of slain La Trobe University student Aiia Maasarwe.
Established by Project Rozana, an organisation that builds understanding between Israelis and Palestinians through health initiatives, the fellowship will provide financial support to Palestinian physicians training in Israeli hospitals.
The fellowship’s first recipient will be Dr Khadra Salami, a senior paediatrician in haematological-oncology, who will undertake a two-year paediatric bone marrow transplantation training program at Hadassah University Hospital.
The goal of the training is to enable complex transplantation surgery to be undertaken at the Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem, where Dr Salami is based.
Dr Khadra Salami, pediatric oncologist at Augusta Victoria Hospital. Image via Project Rozana Source: Project Rozana
Mr Maasarwe is set to launch the fellowship when he arrives in Melbourne on October 27, a visit where he will thank the people of Melbourne for their support.
He told SBS Arabic24 in February that projects in remembrance of his daughter would "keep her memory alive".
"She was always optimistic and happy. You would never see her sad or stressed," he said.
"She had faith and hope and she always overcame challenges in her life and in her studies.”
Mr Maasarwe will also invite the public to contribute to a crowdfunding campaign for both the fellowship and a yet-to-be-determined Australian charity which supports female victims of violence.
Aiia Maasarwe's father Saeed Maasarwe (right) speaks to media before departing at Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne in January. Source: AAP
Dr Salami is expected to join Mr Maasarwe in Australia for the launch.
Aiia Maasarwe, an exchange student studying at La Trobe University, was murdered as she walked home from a comedy club on January 16.
The murder sparked an outpouring of emotion in Australia, with thousands attending vigils in Melbourne and Sydney.
A gathering at La trobe University to pay tribute to international student Aiia Maasarwe. Source: AAP
She was , a predominantly Arab city in the Haifa District of Israel.
Melbourne man Codey Herrmann was arrested and charged with her murder and remanded in custody.
