Serhat Yildirim, MD, MMSc, BSc

Dr. Serhat Yildirim obtained his medical degree from Ghent University Medical School in Belgium. Later, as a Fulbright and Fayat Scholar, he completed his Master of Medical Sciences (MMSc) in Global Health Delivery at the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School (Class of 2025). Dr. Yildirim’s research interests center on healthcare delivery in resource-poor and conflict-affected settings, with a particular focus on mental health and psychosocial support for displaced communities and former child soldiers.

For his master’s thesis at Harvard Medical School, under the supervision of Professor Theresa S. Betancourt, Dr. Yildirim conducted research on mental health services for male former Yazidi child soldiers in northern Iraq. His work explored the challenges and opportunities in delivering MHPSS interventions in humanitarian contexts.

During his time at Harvard, Dr. Yildirim was a teaching fellow for the “International Humanitarian Response” course at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and for the “Research Writing” course at Harvard Medical School. He also held research appointments at the François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights and Harvard’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science. In addition, he was elected vice president of the Master’s Students Council at Harvard Medical School.

During his medical studies in Europe, Dr. Yildirim held several leadership roles, including serving as Chairman of the Flemish Student Union in Belgium. He participated in distinguished programs such as the Fulbright Program, the International Visitor Leadership Program, and the Belgian Leadership Program. As a researcher at the Department of Public Health at Ghent University, he contributed to international initiatives, including projects with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the European Health Parliament.

At the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Dr. Yildirim will work as a Research Associate focusing on health and social justice, health disparities, reparations, and the intersection of healthcare and human rights. He aims to advance research, advocacy, and policy in global health, particularly in supporting the most impoverished and vulnerable populations. Beyond his academic work, Dr. Yildirim has engaged in humanitarian missions in the Middle East and North Africa and is committed to promoting equity and the rights of vulnerable communities worldwide.