Suzanne Barakat

Dr. Suzanne Barakat is a physician, humanitarian, and advocate for inclusion and social justice whose career integrates medicine, human rights, and public advocacy. Barakat earned undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and completed her residency in Family and Community Medicine at University of California San Francisco. She serves as an assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at University of California San Francisco, where she is also executive director of the Health and Human Rights Initiative. In this role, Barakat led efforts to standardize clinical training and documentation of human rights violations and developed the first clinical fellowship in asylum medicine. Her clinical practice includes hospital medicine, labor and delivery, and urgent care, with a focus on underserved communities.

Barakat’s commitment to global health includes research on gestational diabetes and postpartum mental health outcomes in low-income Latina women, as well as translating an online mood screener into Arabic, contributing to mental health assessments of Arabic-speaking communities. She has worked on the Turkish-Syrian border at a polyclinic serving refugees displaced by conflict in Syria and has participated in forensic response efforts in post-regime Syria.

Following personal tragedy, Barakat became a national voice in discussions on hate crimes and Islamophobia. After the deaths of her brother, Deah Barakat, his wife, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, and her sister Razan in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Barakat advocated for recognition of the incident as a hate crime and has since worked to counter Islamophobia and highlight the risks faced by marginalized communities. She also lost family members to violence in Turkey. These experiences have informed her leadership in refugee health and asylum medicine.

Barakat has delivered a TED Talk, appeared in the documentary "36 Seconds: Portrait of a Hate Crime," and been featured on major news outlets. She received the Uniter Award from President Joe Biden. Her TED Talk, "Islamophobia killed my brother. Let's end the hate," was followed by a roundtable discussion at the White House with President Barack Obama. Barakat has contributed to the White House Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Hate and is a Young Global Leader of World Economic Forum.

Barakat serves as board chair of Our Three Winners Foundation, a nonprofit focused on combating Islamophobia and promoting social justice. She shares expertise in refugee health, asylum medicine, and the challenges faced by refugees, asylum seekers, and stateless persons. Through her work, Barakat emphasizes the importance of storytelling in fostering empathy and advancing human rights, encouraging communities to confront hate and build inclusivity.