Steering committee

Project Lead, AAHNA
Associate Professor, Connell School of Nursing

  • iwaar Abouhala (she/her) is a full-time Clinical Research Coordinator working on the Rare Genomes Project (RGP), an NIH-funded, direct-to-patient genome sequencing study. Siwaar graduated summa cum laude with highest thesis honors from Tufts University in May 2023, where she triple majored in community health, Arabic, and biology on the pre-medicine track. During her senior year, Siwaar completed a thesis in community health based on her research in the Departments of Newborn Medicine, and Genetics and Genomics at Boston Children’s Hospital, entitled: “Rare Yet Resilient: The Role of Neonatal Genetic Testing & Rare Disease Prognosis on Parental Psychosocial Outcomes, Coping Mechanisms, & Hospital System Recommendations.” She deeply enjoyed supporting patients and families experiencing rare genetic and/or metabolic disease, and is excited to continue similar work at the Broad.

Project Manager, AAHNA
Research Associate, Boston College

  • Nadia N. Abuelezam, Sc.D., is primarily an associate professor at the Connell School of Nursing and an epidemiologist. Dr. Abuelezam was trained in infectious disease epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She has expertise in data analytic approaches in public health, mitigating health inequities for vulnerable populations, and mathematical modeling of infectious diseases. Her current research focuses on understanding health risks in minoritized populations, with a focus on Arab Americans. The goals of her program of research are to use quantitative methods and novel data streams to better understand inequities in health outcomes and healthcare access in vulnerable populations.

Steering Group Member, Community Representative, AAHNA
Deputy Director of Programs and Implementation, Arab-American Family Support Center

  • Ghadeer (Gigi) Ady is a Palestinian and was born in raised in Los Angeles, California. Gigi attended the California State University, Fullerton where she received her BSc in health science and a minor in women’s studies. She also received a dual master’s degree in social work and public health from the University of Southern California. Gigi has held a variety of roles at AAFSC including starting the Reclaiming Our Health Initiative to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health and increasing access to mental health services for the Arab, Middle Eastern, North African, and South Asian Communities. She currently oversees the Community Health and Well-Being, Anti-Violence, Young Adult Youth, and Adult Readiness Programs at AAFSC, ensuring that community members receive a holistic and culturally sensitive approach to care. She joined AAHNA because she is passionate about serving the Arab American community and ensuring the community is able to access and receive resources to health care that are culturally and linguistically responsive. Gigi joined AAHNA as a steering committee member because she believes working on the AAHNA project will enable Arab-American serving organizations to address the needs and advocate for resources.

Steering Group Member, Patient Representative, AAHNA
Youth Program Coordinator at the Somali Family Service of San Diego

  • Asma Husseing Ali is of Somali origin and currently resides in San Diego, CA with her family. Asma attended and recently graduated from the University of California San Diego with a BS in Public Health. Before her undergraduate studies she was involved in community and public health work and worked in hospital settings. In her current position at SFS, she works with the Arab youth community closely, primarily Arab refugees from Syria and Iraq. Asma joined AAHNA as a patient representative because it offers a unique opportunity that will make health research more equitable for the MENA population.

Steering Group Member, Patient Representative, AAHNA
Public Health Coordinator, ACCESS

  • Ghada Aziz is a public health coordinator at ACCESS and a current patient representative on the AAHNA Steering Group.

Steering Group Member, Community Representative, AAHNA
Community Health Worker, Somali Family Service of San Diego

  • Faten Khalaf is currently a Community Health Worker at the Somali Family Service of San Diego. She is an Iraqi American. She joins AAHNA as a representative of Somali Family Services and shares her expertise and experience in working with the larger San Diego Arab community in her work.

Steering Group Member, Community Representative, AAHNA
Research and Content Manager, Arab American National Museum

  • Matthew Jaber Stiffler is a fourth-generation Arab American who grew up in western Pennsylvania. Matthew also co-founded the Center for Arab Narratives, a new national research program through ACCESS, the largest Arab American community non-profit in the country. Matthew received his Ph.D. in American Culture from the University of Michigan in 2010, where he serves as a lecturer in Arab and Muslim American Studies. His graduate research was focused on Arab Americans, and his daily professional life is dedicated to telling the story of our Arab American communities.He is a former board member of the Arab American Studies Association and serves on the executive board of Michigan Humanities. Matthew joined AAHNA as a steering committee member because advancing the health equity of Arab American is one of the top priorities for ACCESS and he believes that AAHNA’s mission speaks to this goal.

Steering Group Member, Community Representative
Medical Student, Stanford University School of Medicine

  • Noor Zanial is a medical student at Stanford University School of Medicine and is a former Project Manager for AAHNA.

Steering Group Member, Community Representative, AAFS
Co-founder, AAFS

  • Itedal Shalabi established the Arab American Family Services in 2001. Along with co-founder, Nareman Taha, the staff, and other organizations, AAFS went from 1 program to over 13 programs uniquely designed to help the Arab community. As part of a strategic effort to build bridges of communication and resources between Arab/Muslim and mainstream organizations, institutions, and governmental agencies, Itedal sits on the boards of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Domestic Violence, the Mayor of Chicago’s Advisory Council on Domestic Violence, the Advisory Committee of the Cook County Department of Public Health, the Illinois Muslim Advisory Board and the National Network for Arab American Communities. Through different strategies, she has ensured that Arabs and Arab-Americans are becoming visible in the State of Illinois by spearheading and passing legislation that would ensure the safety and protection of the Muslim community. Itedal is proud mother of three wonderful young men, loves embroidery and coffee.

Steering Group Member, Research Representative
Associate Professor, Brescia University

  • Dr. Roula Hawa is an Associate Professor in Family Studies and Human Development at Brescia University College at Western University. A mixed-methods researcher, she brings vast experience in community-based participatory research and intervention research and has worked with racialized and immigrant women and youth communities in Ontario in the area of HIV prevention, resilience, stigma reduction, and sexual health since 2014. Dr. Hawa is currently the Principal Investigator for the YSMENA Study, a research program focused on the sexual health of diaspora Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) youth in Canada, funded by CIHR and CANFAR. Roula also serves as an Associate Editor at Progress in Community Health Partnerships, Johns Hopkins University Press.

Steering Group Member, Community Representative
Research Assistant, Arab-American Family Support Center

  • Hanna Sheikh is a Research Assistant at AAFSC and received her B.A. in Anthropology at Dartmouth College and her M.A. in Migration and Diaspora Studies at SOAS University of London. Her research interests broadly include Muslim immigrant/refugee experiences as they relate to migration, health and criminalization. Since joining AAFSC, Ms. Sheikh has supported research and communication activities while telling the story of immigrant and refugee communities through data and research. Projects include the Halal Food Access Study funded through the NYU Community-Led Grant and the 2022 AAFSC Community Health Needs Assessment Report.

Former Project Manager, AAHNA  
Pychology Doctoral Student, University of Michigan

  • Aber currently serves as a Project Manager and Research Associate for the AAHNA Project with Dr. Nadia Abuelezam. Aber received her master’s in clinical psychology and is a psychotherapist at a private practice in Michigan. In the past, she has worked with the Canadian Federal Government and collaborated with Boston Children’s Hospital, The Mental Health Commission of Canada as well as nonprofit organizations and academic institutions. Throughout these experiences, she led numerous research projects focused on trauma-informed & culturally responsive mental health services for immigrants and refugees. As a Somali-Canadian, raised in the United Arab Emirates, her educational and cultural background has fueled her commitment to centering the voices of those often forced to society's margins through research, advocacy, and community building.

Steering Group Member, Community Representative, AAHNA
Deputy Director, ACCESS Community Health and Research Center

Steering Group Member, Patient Representative, AAHNA
Patient at AAFSC Brooklyn

Steering Group Member, Patient Representative, AAHNA
Patient at AAFS

  • As the Deputy Director at the ACCESS Community Health and Research Center Madiha Tariq oversees health promotion and disease prevention programs including substance abuse and infectious disease prevention, maternal and infant health and refugee health and wellness programs. Ms. Tariq has served as project director on several complex federal grants and cooperative agreements, including a SAMHSA- funded Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration project, and the Office of Refugee Resettlement-funded Ethnic Community Self-Help Program grant and a highly successful Centers for Medicare &Medicaid Services funded health insurance navigator program which gained recognition by President Barrack Obama, the US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy and other leaders in health. She has published research on health insurance disparities among low-income people of color and the mental health burden of Arab refugees, immigrants, and United States-born Arab Americans in Southeast Michigan. She has also planned various international Arab health conferences – which have been the platform for ground-breaking research on Health Issues in Communities of Color. Ms. Tariq has led multiple education and awareness raising campaigns in the community pertaining to discrimination and hate, physical activity, and substance abuse. She is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Interdisciplinary Research Leadership Program Fellow. She holds a Master’s in Public Health from George Washington University in Washington, DC and a Bachelor of Arts from Middlebury College in Vermont.