Discovering Palestinian Intellects: From Refugee Camps to Global Impact

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"My name is Nada Abukishk, and this is my story…"

In this powerful and deeply personal episode, Dr. Slava Abdelrehim sits down with Palestinian Jordanian American epidemiologist Nada Abukishk, a global health scholar with a remarkable story of resilience, intellect, and global impact.

Nada reflects on her earliest memories as a child growing up in a refugee camp in the 1980s, and the defining moment when she realized she wanted her life to be about creating change. Through courage, education, and grit, she went on to earn degrees from the University of Jordan and Harvard Medical School, and has worked for over a decade in global public health, including 10 years with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), where she served over 5.6 million Palestinian refugees.

Now an epidemiologist with the CDC Foundation in Boston, Nada shares her insights on leadership in humanitarian contexts, the hidden costs of compassion, and what it means to represent Palestinian excellence on global stages.

Listeners will walk away with a deeper understanding of:

• The mindset of humanitarian leadership
• How identity can inform purpose
• What it means to leave a legacy beyond borders

🔗 Explore Nada’s Work & Research:

• ResearchGate Profile (Peer-reviewed publications):
  https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nada-Abu-Kishk
• Harvard DASH Publication (Open-access research):
  https://dash.harvard.edu/entities/publication/d07ec0b8-74a3-4bc9-9652-ebab5bf25d7c

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