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| Avni Sali at his library in Melbourne |
Their return ran into difficulties because he spent the money earned on building the family home which was damaged by the earthquake. After 3 years, in 1937 together with his wife and their 2 sons he returned to Australia and settled again in the city of Shepperton in the state of Victoria, and in October 1940 their son, Avni was born.
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| Avni Sali in one of his public engagements regarding interactive medicine |
From a young age Avni expressed a special interest in medicine but never thought that one day he would become one of the best doctors in Australia.
Perhaps Shepperton, his hometown influenced him to pay special attention to Interactive Medicine, because Shepperton was at that time a model of coexistence and organic food, not only for the Albanian community but for the entire Australian people.
Professor Sali says that the key to a healthy life is: Clean bio food, regular exercise, and social life, where today due to the pandemic this is not possible, and I am sorry to say, but in a short time social distancing will badly affect the people and we will have a lot of stressed people and affected by chronic diseases. Therefore to fight this pandemic Professor Sali says that it is very important to cook as much food at home during isolation, then frequent walks, walks that are fortunately allowed at the time of the pandemic, as well as regular contact with friends and family through various electronic means and most importantly the use of sunlight and vitamin D, where unfortunately most of the victims of the Corona Virus in Australia are precisely the elderly living in nursing homes where it is missing vitamin D.
Professor Sali graduated as a doctor at Monash University in Melbourne and was the first Albanian in Australia to graduate from medical school. He further pursued his doctorate at the same University, graduating in 1977.
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| Portrait of Mr. Avni Sali of Melbourne doing research into School-age children's eating habits |
Professor Avni Sali is often referred to as the father of Interactive Medicine, in Australia. In 1996 he was the Founding Chief of the Graduate School of Integrative Medicine at Swinburne University in Melbourne.
In 2009 he founded the National Institute of Charity and became its Founding Director. In the past, he was also Head of the University of Melbourne, Department of Surgery at Heidelberg Hospital, today called 'Austin Hospital'.
Professor Sali devotes his time to several positions on medical boards and various associations. He is the current President of the International Council for Integrative Medicine; Former President of the Australian Association of Interactive Medicine, and low on numerous medical boards. He is a member of the Joint Working Party & Royal Australian College of General Practitioners creating the Interactive Medicine Network, which oversees physician training, continuing professional development, and standards for safe ethical practice in the field of integration.
As a highly sought-after Interactive Medicine expert, Professor Sali regularly contributes to a wide variety of publications, including editorials and articles in Australian and International Medical Journals. He is the author and co-author of many publications, including chapters in two of the world’s leading surgical textbooks. He is on the editorial board of several medical journals and reviews articles for other health-related publications. He has recently co-authored the long-awaited final text of Interactive Medicine, ‘A Guide to Interactive Medicine, and Evidence-Based Supplements’.
Professor Sali is a guest speaker at numerous seminars both domestically and internationally. He is a regular contributor to health articles in publications such as The Melbourne Review.
For his contribution to the community, in 2002 he was awarded the 'St. Michael's Award, in 2005 he received the Australian Humanitarian Award for Health, and in November 2012 he was honored with the Integrative Medal Award in recognition of more than 20 years of service at the Australian College of Food Medicine (ACNEM). In March 2013 he was appointed Adjunct professor with the Cairnmillar Institute in Melbourne.
From 1979-1981, he conducted Australia’s first study on child-eating habits in primary schools, as well as the first study investigating the role of school canteens in children’s diets.
Professor Sali is also a regular attendee of Albania where he has participated in several seminars, lectures, or meetings at the Ministry of Health.
Although he was born in Australia and did not have the opportunity to study the history of Albanians, today he has a rich library of books on Illyrian-Albanian history where he spends over 30 hours a week reading, where his idol is the figure of our national hero George Kastrioti-Skanderbeg that has inspired him throughout his life.
Today, at the age of 80, Professor Sali lives happily with his family in Melbourne and does not miss a single working day.