I am a public health researcher with a disciplinary background in Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Chemistry from Damascus University and over 15 years of professional experience. I recently completed my PhD on applying decolonial approaches in humanitarian health research, using a case study of scholar-activism in Syria. My doctoral work critically examines power, knowledge production, and ethics in research conducted in conflict settings, and advances practical, reflexive approaches to conducting rigorous and accountable research in contexts of violence, displacement, and political constraints.

A recipient of the Chevening Scholarship in 2018, I studied MSc Public Health for Development at LSHTM and began my academic career in the UK, focusing on health research in complex emergencies. My research spans crisis-attributable mortality estimation, health systems governance and adaptation in Syria, gender-based violence, childhood vaccination decision-making and governance in humanitarian settings, and community experiences of public health responses during emergencies.

I am the co-founder and co-director of the Syria Research Group (SyRG) under the Security, Conflict and Health Research (SCaHR) programme. SyRG is a collaborative platform jointly hosted by LSHTM and the National University of Singapore’s Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, dedicated to rigorous, interdisciplinary, and locally engaged health policy and systems research in Syria, with a growing portfolio of work related to the region and Syrian refugee and diaspora communities.