dismissed O-1A Case: Medical Research

U.S.DepartmentofHomelandSecurity
identi i data deleted to U.S.CitizenshipandImmigrationServices
OfficeofAdministrativeAppeals,MS2090
prevent clearly unwarranted Washington,DC 20529-2090
invasionofpersonalprivacy U.S.Citizenship
andImmigration
pLICCOPY services
FILE: Office:CALIFORNIASERVICECENTER Date: 997 7 4 79jg
IN RE: Petitioner:
Beneficiary:
PETITION: Petitionfor aNonimmigrantWorkerPursuantto Section101(a)(15)(O)of theImmigration
andNationalityAct,8U.S.C.§ 1101(a)(15)(O).
ON BEHALFOFPETITIONER: SELF-REPRESENTED
INSTRUCTIONS:
Enclosedpleasefind thedecisionof theAdministrativeAppealsOfficein yourcase.All of thedocuments
relatedtothismatterhavebeenreturnedto theofficethatoriginallydecidedyourcase.Pleasebeadvisedthat
anyfurtherinquirythatyoumighthaveconcerningyourcasemustbemadetothatoffice.
If you believethe law wasinappropriatelyappliedby us in reachingour decision,or you haveadditional
informationthatyouwishto haveconsidered,youmayfile amotiontoreconsideroramotionto reopen.The
specificrequirementsfor filing sucha requestcanbe foundat 8 C.F.R.§ 103.5. All motionsmustbe
submittedtotheofficethatoriginallydecidedyourcasebyfilingaFormI-290B,NoticeofAppealorMotion,
with a feeof $585. Pleasebe awarethat 8 C.F.R.§ 103.5(a)(1)(i)requiresthat anymotionmustbefiled
within30daysof thedecisionthatthemotionseekstoreconsiderorreopen.
Thankyou,
PerryRhew
Chief,AdministrativeAppealsOffice
www.uscis.gov
Page7
In orderto demonstratethatmembershipin anassociationmeetsthiscriterion,apetitionermustshowthatthe
associationrequiresoutstandingachievementas an essentialcondition for admissionto membership.
Membershiprequirementsbasedon employmentor activity in a given field, minimum educationor
experience,standardizedtest scores,gradepoint average,recommendationsby colleaguesor current
members,or paymentof dues,donotsatisfythiscriterionassuchrequirementsdonotconstituteoutstanding
achievements.Further,the overallprestigeof a givenassociationis not determinative;the issuehereis
membershiprequirementsratherthantheassociation'soverallreputation.
In its initial letterdatedMay28,2009,thepetitionerstatedthatthebeneficiary"isamemberof five important
nationallyrecognizedscientificsocietieswhichincludesmembershipin theprestigiousAmericanSocietyof
Nephrology,the leadingorganizationof kidneyscientistsanddoctors." Thebeneficiary'sresumelistshis
membershipin thissocietyaswellastheAmericanPhysicianScientistsAssociation,theInternationalSociety
for StemCell Research,the InternationalStemCell Forum,andtheAmericanAssociationof Physiciansof
IndianOrigin.Thepetitionersubmittedproofof thebeneficiary'smembershipin eachof theseassociations.
In the RFEissuedon August28,2009,the directorrequestedevidenceof theminimumrequirementsand
criteriausedto applyfor membershipin theseassociationsandanyconditionsorrequirementsof membership
aswell asevidencethattheassociationsrely on nationalor internationalexpertswho makedeterminations
regardingmembership.Thepetitioner'sresponseto theRFEdidnotfurtheraddressthiscriterion.
Thedirectordeterminedthattheevidencesubmittedwasinsufficientto meetthis criterion,asthepetitioner
failed to provideany evidencethat the aforementionedassociationsare oneswhich requireoutstanding
achievementsof their membersasjudgedby recognizednationalor internationalexpertsin thefield. The
AAO concurswith thisdeterminationandnotesthatthepetitionerhasnotcontestedthedirector'sfindingthat
thepetitionerdidnotsubmitevidenceto satisfythecriterionat8C.F.R.§ 214.2(o)(3)(iii)(B)(2).
2. Publishedmaterialin professionalor majortradepublicationsor majormediaaboutthe
alien, relating to the alien'swork in thefield for which classificationis sought,which shall
includethetitle, date,andauthorof suchpublishedmaterial,andanynecessarytranslation
In general,in orderfor publishedmaterialto meetthecriterionat 8 C.F.R.§ 214.2(o)(3)(iii)(B)(3),it mustbe
primarily"about"the beneficiaryand,asstatedin theregulations,beprintedin professionalor majortrade
publicationsorothermajormedia.Toqualifyasmajormedia,thepublicationshouldhavesignificantnationalor
intemationaldistribution.An alienwouldnotearnacclaimatthenationallevelfroma localpublication.Some
newspapers,suchastheNewYorkTimes,nominallyserveaparticularlocalitybutwouldqualifyasmajormedia
becauseof significantnationaldistribution,unlikesmalllocalcommunitypapers
The beneficiaryco-authoreda scholarlyarticletitled which was
publishedin theMarch7,2009issueof the Thepetitionernotedthatthis
articledescribes"a novelmethodto regeneratethe liver afterit is damagedirreversiblyby diseasesuchas
3Evenwith nationally-circulatednewspapers,considerationmustbegiventotheplacementofthearticle.For
example,anarticlethatappearsin the butin a sectionthatisdistributedonlyin Fairfax
County,Virginia,for instance,cannotserveto spreadanindividual'sreputationoutsideof thatcounty.
Page13
considerhiswork a 'breakthrough'in theuseof omentumfor medicaltherapy.Considering
the significanceof this work, the AmericanSocietyof Gastroenterologyselected[the
beneficiary]for an oral presentationof his liver regenerationresearchin the Digestive
diseasesweek2009AnnualMeeting- anoutstandinghonorfor a scientistconsideringthat
only5%of submittedworksarechosenfor oralpresentationsin thatMeeting.
To further advancethe liver regenerationwork and makethe use of omentummore
convenient,[thebeneficiary]hasdevelopeda methodof culturingstemcellstakenfromthe
omentum-liverfusionsite.It will now bepossibleto usecellsfrom the Petridishto bring
aboutrepairandregenerationof the injuredliver (stemcell therapy). This novelapproach
wasrecognizedby the stemcell researchcommunityand[thebeneficiary]wasselectedto
presentthisworkatseveralnationalconferences(AmericanSocietyof ClinicalInvestigation,
AmericanFederationof Medical Research-Midwestsection,CentralSocietyof Clinical
Research).
Dr. oesto discussthebeneficiary'soriginalresearchin useof omentumfor kidneyregeneration,
notingthat "otherpeersin the field soonrealizedthe immediateclinicalapplicabilityof [thebeneficiary's]
procedures."Henotesthatthebeneficiarywasinvitedto describehisresearchfindingsin themedicaljournal
TranslationalResearch,"whosemissionis to rapidlytranslatetechnologiesfrom 'bench-to-bedside."'Dr.
concludesby statingthatthebeneficiary's"contributionshaveresultedin newapproachesto treat
diseasespreviouslyconsideredincurable."
Dr. ssociateClinicalProfessorin theDepartmentof Medicineat theUniversityc
discussesthe beneficiary'sstudy of kidney diseasein African AmericanHIV patients,
publishedin theJournalof andpresentedatthe2008AnnualMeetingof the
AmericanSocietyof Nephrology.Dr. tatesthat "following publicationof his findings,doctorsnow
havea greaterunderstandingfor diagnosingearlykidneydiseasein this patientsub-populationsoit canbe
aggressivelytreated."He further indicatesthat "the subsequentadoptionof thesefindings has led to
considerableimprovementin the outcomefor HIV patientsat risk of kidneydisease."DrMurther
discussesthebeneficiary'sworkin kidneyresearch:
[Thebeneficiary]hasshownthattheomentumhasthepropensityto recognizeandfusewith
aninjuredkidneyandtherebydeliveringstemcellsandgrowthfactorsto theinjuredkidney.
In complexexperimentsusinga modelof Heymannnephritishehasshownthatnewkidney
tissueis formedusing the stemcells from the omentum.. . .Thesefindingshavehad
tremendousimpactonthenephrologycommunitybecausenowit opensupthepossibilityof
stemcell treatmentfor kidneydiseases.[Thebeneficiary]is oneof thevery few stemcell
researchersin theUnitedStateswhohasperformedsuchcomplexandcutting-edgeresearch
inthefield.
Finally,the petitionersubmitteda letterfrom hief MedicalOfficer
HealthandHospitalsSystem.Dr indicatesthatthebeneficiary,working
with Dr conductedtwo separateclinicalstudiesto evaluatetheprevalenceof kidneydisease
amongthecenter'sHIV patientpopulation. Dr.Mtates:
Page19
Ultimately,theevidenceintheaggregatedoesnotdistinguishthebeneficiaryasoneof thesmallpercentagewho
hasrisento theverytopof thefield of endeavor.Thebeneficiaryis ajunior scientistwhoreliesprimarilyon
threemanuscriptreviewsin thewidespreadpeer-reviewprocess,his limitedpublicationrecord,the praiseof
expertsin his field,andtheaffirmationof hiscolleaguesthatheis importantto thelaboratorywherehenow
worksinaninherentlysubordinateposition.
As notedby thepetitioner,manyof thebeneficiary'sreferences'credentialsareim ressive.Forexample,Dr.
hasheldthe ositionof Directorof Dialysisat He is an
AssociateEditoro a memberof theeditorialboardof theAmericanJournalofNephrology,andhas
servedas a refereefor sevenscientificjournals. Dr. at the
He is editor-in-chief01 : A Current Surveyof WorldLiterature,
associateeditorof theAmericanJournalof Nephrology,and,accordingto his resume,haspublished249
peer-reviewedarticles.
Dr. is currentlytl· Divisionof Nephrology-Hypertensioni
ExecutiveDirectorandPresidentof the a Professorof Medicineat theUniversityof
andMedicalDirectorof the Accordingto hisresume,heisanelectedfellow
of the Collegeof Physicians andtheAmericanSocietyfor theAdvancement
of Science.Heis aregularmedicalcorrespondentfor theBritishMedicalJournal,theNorthAmericaneditor
for theInternationalJournal of Artificial Organs,co-editorof Kidney,A CurrentSurveyof WorldLiterature,
a memberof the editorialboardof ASAIOTransactions,andco-editorof TheOxfordIllustratedMedical
Companion,3'"Edition.Hisresumelists142scientificpublicationsandnumerousbooksandbookchapters.
Dr. is ith the petitioning organization.He serveson the editorial boardof
theAmericanJournal of Nephrology,andKidney:A Surveyof WorldLiterature,andis a regularreviewerfor
sevenscientificjournals, in additionto reviewinggrantsfor the NationalKidney Foundationof Illinois. Dr.
esumelists84peer-reviewedpublications.
Dr. is Professor at As notedabove,hehasbeena
memberof theeditorialboardsof sevenscientificandmedicalpublications.Accordingto hisresume,hehas
receivedawardsfromtheNationalKidneyFoundation,AmericanKidneyFundandAmericanAssociationof
KidneyPatients.Dr wasalsothefoundingpresidentof theInternationalSocietyfor Hemodialysis,andhas
heldexecutivecommitteemembershipandchairpositionsforthe I mericanSociety
ofNephrologyandotherorganizations.Hehaspublished251articlesandeditedseveralbooks.
Whilethepetitionerneednotdemonstratethatthereisnoonemoreaccomplishedthanthebeneficiaryin orderto
establishthatheis qualifiedfor theclassificationsought,it appearsthattheverytopof thebeneficiary'sfieldof
endeavoriswellabovethelevelhehasattained.Incontrasttothesereferences,thepetitionerhasnotestablished
thatthebeneficiary'sachievementsatthetimeof filingthepetitionwerecommensuratewithsustainednationalor
internationalacclaiminthebiomedicalresearchfield,orthatheisamongthesmallpercentageattheverytopof
thefield of endeavor.
Page20
IIL Conclusion
Reviewof therecorddoesnotestablishthatthebeneficiaryhasdistinguishedhimselfto suchanextentthathe
maybesaidto haveachievedsustainednationalor internationalacclaimorto bewithinthesmallpercentage
at the very top of his field. The evidenceis not persuasivethat the beneficiary'sachievementssethim
significantlyabovealmostall othersin hisfield ata nationalor internationallevel. Therefore,thepetitioner
hasnot establishedeligibility pursuantto section203(b)(1)(A)of the Act and the petitionmay not be
approved.
Nothingin thedecisionof theAAO shouldbeseenasanattemptto minimizetheaccomplishmentsof the
beneficiary,particularlysincetheyhavebeenachievedsoearlyin hiscareer,or asa commentonthecriteria
usedby thepetitionerto selectpersonsfor positions.Indeed,asmanyof thetestimoniallettersmakeclear,
the beneficiaryshowsgreatpromiseandpotentialin thefield of stemcell research,andwasappropriately
describedby thepetitionerasa "buddingexpert"in his field. This denialdoesnot precludethepetitioner
fromfiling a newimmigrantor nonimmigrantvisapetition,supportedby therequiredevidence.As always,
theburdenremainswiththepetitionerto establisheligibilityfortherequestedvisaclassification.
In visapetitionproceedings,theburdenof provingeligibility for thebenefitsoughtremainsentirelywith the
petitioner.Section291of theAct, 8U.S.C.§ 1361.Here,thatburdenhasnotbeenmet.
ORDER: Theappealisdismissed.