Sara Rashidi

Sara Rashidi (she/her/hers)

Program: MIA

Concentration: Economic and Political Development

Specialization: International Organization/United Nations Studies & International Conflict Resolution

Hometown: Tehran, Iran & Los Angeles, CA

Sara Rashidi (she/her) is a second-year Master of Public Health (MPH) and Master of International Affairs (MIA) Dual-Degree candidate at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and Columbia School of International and Public Affairs(SIPA). At Mailman, she is studying Health Policy and Management with a focus on Global Health. At SIPA, she is concentrating in Economic and Political Development and specializing in International Organization/United Nations Studies and International Conflict Resolution. She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a Bachelor of Science in Psychobiology and Minor in Middle Eastern Studies. 

Coming from an extensive research, clinical, and global work in both public and private sectors, she has gained valuable skills, knowledge, and respect for human autonomy. Her interests include health economics, health systems strengthening, socioeconomic determinants of health, evidence-based behavioral policy, immigrant/refugee health, and the political economy of governance and its impacts on access to healthcare.  

Sara has served in research roles and humanitarian spaces in Mexico, China, Uganda, and the United States surrounding health services delivery, health systems development and forced migration program evaluation. Besides her clinical work experiences in community hospitals and clinics, she has worked for both New York State and the federal government, Médecins Sans Frontières, the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees. Sara has deep interests for poetry and writing and has also contributed to articles within health and public affairs in Los Angeles Downtown News, the UCLA Daily Bruin ang Global Voices. She is a certified Persian Calligrapher who has been trained for seven years in Iran.