Sirad A. Hassan (she/her) is a Population Health Sciences doctoral student in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Prior to starting graduate school, Sirad earned her M.S. in Human Nutrition from Columbia University and her A.B. in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University, with minors in African American Studies, African Studies, Cognitive Science, and Global Health and Health Policy. Her undergraduate thesis titled “Trauma and Resilience: An Analysis of Somali Refugee Women and their Experiences in Health Care in the United States” was a cross-sectional study where she conducted over 30 interviews with Somali refugee women and 50 interviews with key informants at four key case study sites in Columbus, Ohio; Phoenix, AZ; San Diego, CA; and Seattle, WA.
Sirad hopes to amplify the strengths that already lie within communities and to hold those in positions of power accountable to dismantling harmful systems of oppression. She is deeply passionate about public health work that advances food justice, maternal health, and mental health. Furthermore, she is committed to working collaboratively with diverse refugee and immigrant populations, focusing on increasing health access and addressing racial disparities to improve the health outcomes of these communities.