Team
Secretariat
Dr Yazan Douedari
Licenced dentist in Syria and the UK. He is an alumnus of Aleppo University, holds an MPH from LSHTM through the Chevening Scholarship, and is a Research Assistant at LSHTM. His research focuses on health systems governance in Syria. He leads SyRG planning and operations, including identifying potential projects and collaborators, leading governance ‘fieldwork’, and coordinating volunteer researchers.
Ms Mervat Alhaffar
Holds a bachelor’s in pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Chemistry from Damascus University/Syria, an alumna of an MPH from LSHTM through the Chevening Scholarship, and is a Research Assistant at LSHTM. Her research focuses on health systems and gender justice in Syria and the region. She leads SyRG external relations, including identifying potential project funding and collaborators, leading gender ‘fieldwork’, managing SyRG events, and coordinating volunteers.
Dr Natasha Howard
Holds a dual Associate Professorship at LSHTM and SSHSPH and is SyRG academic lead. Her research focuses on infectious disease control and health policy and systems in protracted conflicts in Asia. She provides support for new and ongoing SyRG research, including guidance on grant applications, study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and the capacity development of junior researchers.
Membership
Dr Aula Abbara
Consultant in infectious diseases and honorary clinical research fellow at Imperial College London, Syria Public Health Network chair, and research lead for the Syrian American Medical Society.
Ahmad M. Khanshour
Holds a BSc from Damascus University, Syria. Currently studying Education Management and Leadership MSc at Southampton University as a Chevening Scholarship Alumni. Ahmad has 10 years of experience in development work and focuses his research on the governance of education and health systems in conflict areas.
Hala Mkhallalati
She holds a pharmacy BSc from Ebla Private University in Idlib, Syria and an MSc in Global Health and Development from UCL through the Chevening Scholarship. She is a co-founder of different local public health initiatives in Syria that focus on community engagement and participation. She worked in infection control and prevention back in Syria for four years. She worked on the D-Magic project, a project on type-2 diabetes in rural and fragile settings in Bangladesh. Currently, she is supporting various research and advocacy projects within both academic and humanitarian settings including AUB, LSHTM and WHO and has consulted for UN ESCWA for their National Agenda for the Future of Syria Phase II program (2020).
Omar Alrashid Alhiraki M.D.
He graduated from Aleppo University, Faculty of Medicine. He worked and volunteered as an emergency physician in many field hospitals in Northwest Syria. Ex-Trauma and Orthopaedic resident at Bab Al-Hawa Hospital, Idlib, Syria. Interested in Public Health in Conflict settings.
Dr Ola Fahham
Ola Fahham is a Syrian doctor, graduated from Aleppo University, Faculty of Medicine in 2013. She worked and volunteered as an ENT resident in field hospitals, and primary health care clinics in the humanitarian setting of Northwest Syria. She is currently doing her master of public health at the University of Nottingham funded by the Chevening Scholarship.
