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The true story about the origins of our company name begins in 1994.
I suffered from a systemic infection of Staphyloccocus Aureus. In rare cases, staph infections can turn deadly if the bacteria invade deeper into the body or enters the bloodstream resulting in fever, joint, and muscle pain.
I was a rare case, and Staph was running rampant throughout my body. I could not sit down because of the terrible pain caused by an infection of nearly 2″ x 2″ in my buttcheek. I couldn’t use my left leg, because there was a staph infection under my kneecap. There was also one growing on my heart.
A very dear friend of mine happened to be the head of the San Francisco General Hospital’s Emergency Team and a brilliant doctor. He immediately dragged me into the hospital and began several tests to discover what was wrong with me. Dr. Reza Gandjei, my dear friend, informed me I had a systemic infection of Staphyloccocus Aureus.
I ended up having to endure two months in bed, with twice-daily removal of and replacement of gauze inside of each infection site. Fortunately for me, my doctor and friend nursed me back to health, and I was one of the first systemic cases discovered in San Francisco at that time.
A few months later, I was forming a music recording and production company and was trying to figure out a name. I wanted something unique, with personal meaning and something engaging.
Reza suggested I call my company, “Aureus Music, Inc.” because Aureus means ‘Gold’ in Latin, and since I had almost died from Staphyloccocus Aureus, it would have great personal meaning to me. Additionally, it was truly a unique and engaging word that was not being used outside of the medical communities on the internet.
Since we incorporated, Aureus has become a very popular name for many business websites. I began Aureus Media Design & Development in 1999, and let the URL lapse after I lost my business partner.
However, I can claim to have been the original company to use “Aureus” in the business title, and everyone else has been using it perhaps not realizing the true origins of how Aureus Media and Aureus Music, Inc., came to be.
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Reza K. Gandjei
Reza K. Gandjei was a remarkable student and physician with a special interest in problems of medical ethics. A native of Iran, he had his secondary schooling in England and graduated magna cum laude from the University of California, Berkeley, where he developed a student-run seminar course on bioethical issues in health and medicine. He entered Harvard Medical School in 1987, and assumed leadership roles in projects ranging from the provision of weekly health education classes to Boston high school students to the organization of the first Soviet/American medical student exchange program with the Second Pirogov Medical College of Moscow. As a third-year medical student, he was selected for both the Marshall and Rhodes Scholarships. As a Rhodes Scholar, he received an M.A. (with First Honors) in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford University in 1992, and was elected Secretary of his Rhodes class. Immediately thereafter, Reza moved to Cambridge University, obtaining a second Master’s degree in Ethics.
In subsequent years, still as a medical student, he worked as Special Assistant to U.S. Surgeon-General Antonia Novello and as a Research Assistant with the World Health Organization in Brazzaville in the area of AIDS research and education. The noted philosopher and Secretary of the Rhodes Trust, Sir Anthony Kenny, wrote of Reza: “Were he to continue as a philosopher, he would become a very distinguished member of the profession, but I am sure that he will make a greater contribution to society by resuming his medical career.” Reza resumed his training in medicine with a goal of furthering our understanding of complex ethical issues in the contexts of clinical practice and education.
After graduating from Harvard Medical School, Dr. Gandjei began his residency training in Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, in July, 1994. His death was a great loss for his family, friends, colleagues, the community, and the medical profession.