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Siwaar Abouhala
سوار أبوØلا
Work Highlights
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2025 Rare Disease Diversity Coalition (RDDC) Fellow, American Muslim Health Professionals
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Clinical Research Coordinator, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard
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Organizer of Project MENA (Middle Eastern or North African) PEDIGREE: Progressing Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion in Genetic Research, Education & Empowerment, Broad Institute x Center for Arab Narratives (CAN)
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Study Lead & Organizer of Project INSPIRE: Improving New Somerville Parent & Infant Resilience & Empowerment, Tufts Medicine
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Founder & Study Lead of The Arab Maternal Health in Ohio Study, Ohio State University
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Research Associate & Project Manager, Arab American Health Network Alliance (AAHNA), Boston College
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Founder, MARCH: Maternal Advocacy & Research for Community Health, Tufts University
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Inaugural Research Assistant, MOTHER Lab: Maternal Outcomes for Translational Health Equity Research, Tufts Medicine
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Qualitative Researcher, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Boston Children's Hospital
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Medical Assistant, Clinics in southern Syria and eastern Massachusetts
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Graduate Policy Fellow, Center for Black Maternal Health & Reproductive Justice (CBMHRJ)
A little about me...
Siwaar Abouhala [pronounced: Sea-waar Ah-boo-ha-la] (she/her) is a community-based health equity researcher who calls New York, Boston, and Syria home.
Siwaar graduated summa cum laude from Tufts University in May 2023 with triple majors in community health (highest thesis honors), Arabic, and biology. While at Tufts, Siwaar founded the largest undergraduate-run maternal health organization in the US called MARCH: Maternal Advocacy and Research for Community Health.
She also conducted extensive research at the MOTHER Lab, the Arab American Health Network Alliance, the Boston Children’s Hospital NICU, and more. Since graduating, Siwaar has researched equity in genomic health at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
Siwaar aspires to become a physician-advocate, with research and health innovation as the bridge between both roles. In her free time, she loves creative writing, getting outdoors, trying new coffee recipes (always iced, even in snowy Boston), and laughing hard with friends and family.
Education
BA, Tufts University (Medford, MA), 2019 - 2023
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Triple majors in Community Health, Biology, and Arabic Language & Cultural Studies, Cumulative GPA: 3.92/ 4.00
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Senior Honors Thesis: “Rare Yet Resilient: The Role of Neonatal Genetic Testing & Rare Disease Prognosis on Parental Psychosocial Outcomes, Coping Mechanisms, & Hospital System Recommendations.​
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MD, Stanford University School of Medicine, 2025- Present
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Coming soon...​
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Research Assistant, the 2025 Leadership in Health Disparities Program (LHDP), June - August 2025
Research & Innovation Interests
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Health care disparities
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Community-engaged collaboration
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Immigrant & refugee health
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Maternal & neonatal medicine
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Genomic health equity
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Implementation science