DR. WHO
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
EYAS HATTAB, MD
AUTHOR Aaron Burch
D
r. Eyas Hattab is the son of a self-made man. His father, Tay-
sir Hattab, was a Palestinian refugee who immigrated to Jor-
dan following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
“My father was a determined person. He had to take care
of his family right out of high school but wanted to pursue a
career in law. He worked in Kuwait briefly, and this is where
he met my mother, Rihab,” Dr. Hattab recalled. “They mar-
ried and chose to start a family in northern Jordan.”
Taysir pursued his dream and established a law practice. It took
time, but he became one of the most accomplished lawyers in north-
ern Jordan. “He never had it easy, but he afforded us a great life. This
is something that has always motivated me to do the same for my own
children,” Dr. Hattab explained.
Dr. Hattab’s mother was a hard worker as well, a school principal.
“We were not short on discipline,” said Dr. Hattab smiling. He, his
two brothers and two sisters were taught to treat people with respect,
“to have values and live by them.” Education was highly valued and
is now reflected in the careers of Dr. Hattab and his siblings: one at-
torney, one engineer, one teacher, one businessman and Dr. Hattab
himself, neuropathologist and chair of the UofL Hospital Pathology
Department.
For his interview, Dr. Hattab sat in his office near the corner of
Chestnut and Jackson Streets in downtown Louisville. Cars continu-
ously pass by outside the window. Pictures of his children are placed
prominently, and several framed diplomas decorate the walls. A par-
ticularly beautiful one is written in Arabic.
“That is my diploma from the Jordan University of Science and
Technology,” he explained. “I followed a traditional seven-year med-
ical school course in Jordan. This means I began to study medicine
directly out of high school.”
Jordan, bordered in the Middle East by Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq,
Israel and Palestine, long ago adopted the British/European style
of medical school training, meaning students complete a year of
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LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
pre-medical courses, five years of intense medical school education
and then a final year of internship.
“Growing up, I gravitated towards the U.S. health care system and
the more structured training they offered. I knew while I was in med-
ical school that I wanted to pursue my residency training here. I was
fortunate to have a couple of fantastic mentors who guided me. One,
Nidal Almasri, trained at the University of Florida. He came back to
Jordan and became a professor. I was impressed by his knowledge and
approach to medicine,” he recalled.
Dr. Hattab’s plane landed in Jacksonville, Fla., in July 1995. Look-
ing back, he found the United States exactly as expected. “There was a
period of adjustment in residency as I learned how people interacted
with each other, how to disseminate and receive information, handle
protocols, etc. There was a learning curve, but I very much enjoyed
working and living here. It was a fairly seamless transition.”
Dr. Hattab pursued pathology, initially with the intention of sub-
specializing in dermatopathology. “I very much enjoyed ‘derm-path,’
but after several years of studying, the field was no longer enigmatic
for me. I was no longer intrigued by a fellowship, and I have a habit of
exploring areas I do not understand very well. My curiosity led me to
neuropathology. The more I tried to find out about that field, the more
I was interested by it.”
While visiting Jordan to attend his older sister’s wedding, Dr. Hat-
tab met a friend, Rania. They began dating and maintained a long-dis-
tance relationship during his residency. The two were married the fol-
lowing year, in 1997.
“We spent a wonderful honeymoon in Vienna. I returned to Flori-
da, and Rania came with me. She’d just finished college and was really
looking forward to life in the U.S.,” said Dr. Hattab.
At the end of Dr. Hattab’s residency, the couple moved to Califor-
nia to allow him to pursue a neuropathology fellowship at Stanford
University. Their first daughter, Isabelle, was born during their time
in California. Another daughter, Kinsey, and son, Sami, would follow.