What We Do

We aim to provide a space for dialogue, advocacy and analysis on issues important to the health of Syrians including current as well as future public health trends that have arisen from the Syrian crisis. We do this through i. Convening and curating closed meetings with representatives from donor agencies, United Nations and those working-on-the ground to address the challenges they face and possible policy responses ii. Hosting open meetings to highlight key health issues and humanitarian response issues iii. Producing and disseminating policy briefs, academic outputs and media editorials. Our next phase of development is to support the capacity building of the Syrian healthcare workforce (including education and training) within and outside of Syria.

Since our founding, we have convened several closed meetings in which we examine particular aspects of the humanitarian response in Syria and neighbouring frontline countries. These have included Syria’s health system; mental health and psychosocial prioritization; non-communicable diseases; and the informal employment of Syrian healthcare workers in neighbouring countries. Most recently we cohosted the second Syria research health conference.

The network engages with a variety of policy actors as advisors and experts on Syria and the humanitarian response; this includes the World Health Organization, European Union delegation to Syria, UN ESCWA, Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, World Bank MENA, Medicine du Monde as well as academic institutions in the region and Europe.

Our Work

We promote the integration of Syrian public health professionals and healthcare workers into mainstream policy conversations and academic research pertaining to Syria, the humanitarian response and post conflict development and early recovery policies.

Our Priority Areas

Healthcare Workforce

Syrian healthcare workforce (including education and training) in Syria and abroad

Health Systems

Health systems of Syria and refugee hosting countries

Challenges of Response

The challenges of the humanitarian and refugee response

Recovery & Reconstruction

Early recovery and post conflict reconstruction of the health system

Current work includes the education and training of Syrian healthcare workers; the experiences of Syrian refugee and diaspora healthcare workers in the region and in Europe particularly how healthcare workers can be integrated into host community labour markets.

Our Team

Chair and Deputy Chair

Dr Munzer Alkhalil

Dr Munzer Alkhalil is a research fellow at the LSE IDEAS and a NextGen Humanitarian Scholar at CHH-Lancet Commission on Health, Conflict, and Forced Displacement. His research focuses on health governance, legitimacy, localisation and decolonisation of humanitarian aid, and aid effectiveness in areas of limited statehood.

Alkhalil is a medical doctor by background and an orthopedist by training with an MSc in Health Policy, Planning and Financing from the University of London (LSHTM + LSE).

Alkhalil co-founded several quasi-hybrid health governmental institutions and hospitals in northwest Syria, including the Idlib Health Directorate (IHD) and Alamal Hospital for Orthopaedic Surgery. He led the IHD from 2013 to 2020.

Beyond his work in the medical and research fields, Alkhalil has been actively engaged in social empowerment initiatives, constructing local councils, documenting war crimes and crimes against humanity, and running advocacy campaigns to stop attacks on health facilities and personnel in Syria.

Steering Committee

Dr Aula Abbara

Dr Aula Abbara MBBS MD(Res) DTMH is a consultant in Infectious Diseases/ General Internal Medicine at Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust, London and an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at Imperial College. She teaches and supervises students on the Global Health BSc and MPH at Imperial College. View Profile.

She has volunteered in different humanitarian and refugee settings including direct clinical work, teaching healthcare workers and building capacity. Since 2012, this has been predominantly with Syrian non-governmental organisations. Between 2016 and 2018, she led a project for SAMS Hellas which provided over 30,000 primary healthcare consultations for refugees in Greece and received a Women in Global Health Award at the World Health Assembly for this. Other humanitarian work includes refugee camps in Lebanon and Syria (pre-conflict), the Rohingya crisis and in Sierra Leone with MDM for the ebola response in 2015 (for which she received an Ebola Medal of Service.)

Her research interests include attacks on healthcare, AMR in conflict, refugee healthcare workers and, more broadly relating to global and humanitarian health. Current research projects include an MRC grant on Health Systems Research on health system governance in Syria, an R2HC grant on the Public Health impact of Attacks on Healthcare and a collaboration on AMR in conflict.

@AulaAb

Fouad M Fouad MD PhD

Fouad M. Fouad, M.D. is a Professor of Social Sciences and Global Health at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and an Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the American University of Beirut (AUB), Lebanon.
His research focuses on migration and health, with an emphasis on multidisciplinary approaches to forced displacement, health systems in humanitarian settings, and the political economy of health in protracted crises.

Fouad is a member of several global technical working groups, including the WHO Global Consultation on the Health of Migrants and Refugees and the Global Research Agenda on Health and Migration, reflecting his leadership and influence in the field.

Fouad was a commissioner with the UCL–Lancet Commission on Migration and Health (2018) and currently serves on the Lancet Commission on Health, Conflict, and Forced Migration.

He has authored over 100 academic articles, opinion pieces, and reports in leading journals and media platforms, including The Lancet, BMJ, PLOS, Conflict and Health, Social Science & Medicine, and The New York Times. His contributions to the field were recognized in The Lancet, which featured a profile on his work on forced displacement: Fouad M Fouad: enriching the dialogue on displacement and health.

@mfouad61

Naser Almhawish MD MPH

Dr. Naser Almhawish is a medical doctor and epidemiologist with extensive experience in public health surveillance and health information systems in conflict-affected settings. He served as a Surveillance Consultant supporting programs operating in north Syria, with a focus on strengthening early warning systems and vaccine-preventable disease surveillance. 

In 2016, Dr. Almhawish established the Acute Respiratory Illness (ARI) surveillance system within the Early Warning, Alert, and Response Network (EWARN), which was later adapted to serve as a COVID-19 surveillance platform during the pandemic. He has played an active role in the Health Cluster and the Cholera Task Force, contributing to technical guidance, response planning, and capacity building. In 2017, he led the surveillance team that successfully detected and responded to a vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) outbreak in northern Syria.

Dr. Almhawish has also developed context-appropriate enhancements to the surveillance of Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) and other vaccine-preventable diseases, aligning them with global standards despite the challenges of a protracted humanitarian crisis. Prior to his public health career, Dr. Almhawish practiced as a surgeon along the Syrian-Turkish border, where he was instrumental in establishing and managing frontline surgical facilities in emergency settings. He holds a Bachelor of Medicine from the University of Aleppo (2006), a Postgraduate Certificate in Surgical Studies (2012), and a Master of Public Health (MPH). He also holds an MSc in Data Science, combining epidemiological expertise with advanced analytic capabilities to support data-driven health decision-making.

Manar Marzouk MSc

Manar, is a pharmacist with a strong track record in health policy and systems research in humanitarian and displacement settings, focusing on non-communicable diseases, maternal and child health, climate change, and health equity.

Her work spans over a decade across multiple regions, including the Middle East, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and the UK. She has experience of mixed methods research in collaboration with international and national partners including on noncommunicable diseases and cancer. In addition to academic research, Manar has contributed to policy-focused initiatives with UNESCWA, WHO-EMRO, UNICEF, and other regional actors. Her field experience includes over seven years working directly with displaced populations in Syria and the UK. Manar holds an MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from the University of Damascus.

Dr Abdulkarim Ekzayez MD PhD

Dr Abdulkarim is a Syrian medical doctor and an epidemiologist. Currently his work at King’s College focuses on health system strengthening in northern Syria and on building the capacity to research health in conflict in the middle east. View Profile.

He is also involved in several other projects and research with other academic and policy institutes including LSHTM, AUB, Chatham House and others. His research focuses on the public health impacts of conflict, as well as challenges around the protection of healthcare in conflict, both issues he has experienced first-hand in Syria.

In 2013, Karim was training to be a neurosurgeon when his residency was interrupted by the war. He joined Save the Children in North West Syria, where he led the health response until 2017. Also, he was part of supporting the rebuilding of the health system in opposition controlled areas in Syria using a bottom up approach.

Dr Abdulkarim is a trustee member of two NGOs, Shafak and Refugee Trauma Initiative. He is a board member of the Home Revival Initiative. He is also the managing director of the Syrian British Council.

He received his MD from Aleppo University and his MSc from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Also, he completed a one-year residential fellowship on leadership in international affairs from The Queen Elizabeth II Academy for Leadership in International Affairs at Chatham House; and another one-year fellowship in international cultural relations from the Institute for International Cultural Relations at The University of Edinburgh.

@kareemekzayez

Senior Advisors

Dr Adam Coutts

Dr Adam Coutts is a Research Associate in the Department of Sociology and a Senior Research Fellow at Magdalene College, University of Cambridge. He is a cofounder of SPHN. View Profile.

Dawn Chatty

Dawn Chatty

Dawn Chatty, is Emeritus Professor in Anthropology and Forced Migration and former Director of the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.   She is also Fellow of the British Academy. Her research interests include coping strategies and resilience of refugee youth; tribes and tribalism; nomadic pastoralism and conservation; gender and development; health, illness, and culture.

She has worked with nomadic pastoral groups in Lebanon and Syria since the mid-1970s and extended her research to Oman in 1979. She has continued to be engaged with these communities and advocate for their rights to resist forced settlement. Since 1998 she has worked with refugee youth in situations of prolonged armed conflict in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza, Algeria ( with Sahrawi refugees)   and Iran ( Afghan Hazaras). She has edited numerous books including: Deterritorialized Youth:  Sahrawi and Afghan Refugees at the Margins of the Middle East, Berghahn Books, 2010; Nomadic Societies in the Middle East and North Africa: Facing the 21st Century, Leiden, Brill, 2006; Children of Palestine: Experiencing Forced Migration in the Middle East, Berghahn Books, 2005; and Conservation and Mobile Peoples: Displacement, Forced Settlement and Sustainable Development Berghahn Press, 2002.  She is the author of Displacement and Dispossession in the Modern Middle East Cambridge University Press, 2010, From Camel to Truck, White Horse Press, 2013, and Syria: The Making and Unmaking of a Refuge State, Hurst Publishers, 2018.

Professor Richard Sullivan

Professor Richard Sullivan’s research group studies health systems, particular NCD policy and the impact of conflict on health. He is Professor of Cancer and Global Health at King’s College London, and Director of the Institute of Cancer Policy (ICP) and co-Director of the Conflict and Health Research Group. View profile.

IHLAS ALTINCI

Dr Ihlas Altinci

Ihlas Altinci (Ikhlas Fattal), a family physician from Syria and a mother of four children. She graduated from the faculty of General Medicine and Pharmacy of Timisoara, Romania in 1996. In 2002, she finished her master’s degree in family medicine from Damascus University, Syria.  As a master’s student, she did research about violence against women, which was the first research ever done in Syria about this sensitive subject.

While in Syria, she worked at her own clinic as a family doctor for almost 10 years, and in 2013 she had to move to Turkey together with her family. Since then, she has been remotely managing health, nutrition, and sexual and reproductive health programs and projects inside Syria working for different international organizations like World Vision and Relief International. Currently, she is working for CARE International as the Sexual and Reproductive Health Technical Advisor since January 2019, and has been leading the strategic direction and providing technical oversight to CARE’s sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) programming in NW Syria with a special focus on meeting the needs of crisis-affected adolescents. She is also involved in several regional and global initiatives to advance SRHR through programming and advocacy.

Dr. Hazem Rihawi, BPharm, RPh, MPH

Senior Advocacy and Communications Officer, The White Helmets (Syria Civil Defense), Washington, DC

Dr. Hazem Rihawi is the Senior Advocacy and Communications Officer at the White Helmets (Syria Civil Defense) and the Co-Chair of InterAction’s Syria Working Group.

He is a pharmacist, having graduated from Aleppo University in Syria, and holds a Master of Public Health degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Hazem has nine years of progressive experience in the pharmaceutical industry and over ten years of extensive leadership experience in humanitarian response, focusing on health, coordination, and advocacy. He is the former co-lead of the Health Cluster serving northern Syria, former Health Cluster Coordinator for Somalia, and former Senior Program Manager at the American Relief Coalition for Syria (ARCS). In his current role, Hazem actively engages with the U.S. Government in Washington, D.C., and the UN and State Missions to the UN to advocate for the humanitarian response in Syria and the important role of the White Helmets in the future rebuilding of the country.

SPHN Fellows

Yamama Tawashi

Medical student at Hama University, with over five years of experience in volunteer work within the university environment. Passionate about public health and scientific research, with several publications in reputable journals.

Seba Harh

Medical student at Damascus University Faculty of medicine, Damascus, Syria.
Interested in medical research, academic writing and data analysis. Looking forward to improve scientific knowledge through research.

Abdulrazzaq Hilal

Resident physician specializing in gastroenterology at Al-Ziraa Hospital, Idlib, Syria. I have a growing interest in the field of public health and have participated in several training courses related to health systems management. I strive to promote the integration of clinical practice with a community health perspective.

former SPHN Fellows

Sara Basha

Dr Sara Basha

Sara is a recently graduated Syrian-Scottish junior doctor with a masters in Global Health and Management at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. She has undertaken research on maternal health in Syria and Syria’s primary healthcare system. She plans to pursue a career in the humanitarian field relating to Syria.

Samia Deghastani

Samia is currently a medical student at Baylor College of Medicine. She has an undergraduate degree from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Her upbringing along the US-Mexico border paired with her Syrian background has directed her towards a career in which she hopes to serve populations affected by violence and conflict around the world.

Kinan Wihba

 Kinan is a Syrian refugee and medical student at Imperial College School of Medicine, London. He holds an iBSc (Hons) in Medical Sciences and Global Health from the Imperial College School of Public Health, London.

He has conducted multiple qualitative research projects into the experiences of Syrian migrant and refugee doctors in the UK healthcare workforce, and into the experiences of refugee and polylingual medical students with medical education in the UK. Kinan aspires to expand his experience into research in conflict settings broadly and Syria specifically.

Dr Ahmad Hmeideh

Dr Ahmad Hmaideh is an internal medicine resident supported by SBOMS (Syrian Board of Medical Specialities) in northwest Syria. 

He is actively interested in research and has co-authored a paper on the ‘Timing of surgery following SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international prospective cohort study’ and a clinical-epidemiological analysis of cholera cases at a center in northwest Syria which he presented at Emergency Environmental Health Forum in May 2023. He is interested in research which supports the health system in north west Syria through scientific research which focuses on outbreaks.

Dr Boushra Mohammed Alhussin Alameen

Dr. Boushra Mohammed Alhussin Alameen , a medical doctor specializing in psychiatry, currently as a resident. She has extensive research experience working with SAMS using qualitatove method to explore the experiences of women with breast cancer in northwest Syria.

She holds a bachelor of medicine from Aleppo University in the liberated areas. Her approach is characterized by compassion, resilience, and a relentless pursuit of knowledge, aiming to make a lasting impact on the health and well-being of her community.

Dr Ahmad Habboush

Dr Habboush is a Syrian-Turkish dentist and public servant, who is dedicated to the public and non-profit sectors. He is a Chevening Scholar and a Master’s degree holder in Public Management (with a specific focus on health and social care) from the University of Birmingham (2022). 

In his recent career roles, he has had a strong interest in research, local communities’ empowerment and community-based interventions to enhance health equity in armed conflict settings. He aspires to continue  to contribute to health system strengthening in fragile contexts through evidence-based interventions and policy-making.

Dr Hussam Al-kabbani

Dr Al-kabbani is a medical doctor. He has 10 years of experience working with NGOs on health and nutrition programming in the Syrian context. Currently, he is pursuing his Master's in Public Health for Development at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is undertaking a qualitative research project on AMR in northwest Syria.

Alaa Al-Shemali

Alaa is a final year medical student at the Free Aleppo University in North West Syria. Alongside her training, she has developed qualitative and quantitative research skills through volunteering with SAMS (Syrian American Medical Society) on a project exploring breast cancer access and care in northwest Syria.