Meet Our Team
Collaborative Efforts
Ammar Sabouni
Ammar Sabouni is the Founder and CEO of the Syria Development Centre. He is an MSc degree holder in Public Policy from the University of Oxford concentrating on post-conflict reform in fragile settings. He is a qualified physician in the UK, academic, and public health consultant. His interests range across disciplines including health system reconstruction, public health, humanitarianism and academia. He brings strong methodological expertise in systematic reviews and bibliometric analysis and has previously worked for Cochrane UK, the NHS, Chatham House, the University of York, and The Lancet - American University of Beirut Commission on Syria. He worked for Blavatnik School of Government, at the University of Oxford, and the International Growth Centre, at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
Yamama Bdaiwi
Yamama is the Lead of Medical Education at the Syria Development Centre. She completed her master’s degree at the Nuffield Department of Health Sciences, University of Oxford, and wrote her thesis on Medical Education and Health Professional Training in Syria. She is a co-lead for education for the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funded King’s College, London project: Research for Health Systems Strengthening in northern Syria (R4HSSS). She is a member of the Conflict and Health Research Group, and a GP Trainee in West Yorkshire and the Humber.
Hani Fakhani
Hani Fakhani is an architect, an urban practitioner, a researcher, and a graduate of University College London. Hani holds an MSc degree from the Development Planning Unit at the University College London where he researched the interlinks between reconstruction, governance, and peace. His work is focused on housing and reconstruction in Syria and other post-conflict settings through research and practice. As a researcher, he has been part of programs and published articles tackling topics including reconstruction policies, displacement, and urbanism in conflict with several organisations and research centres, including, GIZ, ESCWA, AUB, and Carnegie centre. As a practitioner, he is the managing director and co-founder of Sakan Housing Communities Sakan Housing Communities tackling social and economic recovery in Syria through strategic affordable housing programs.
Abdulkarim Ekzayez
Abdulkarim Ekzayez is the Lead for Research at the Syria Development Centre. He has a PhD in Health Systems from King's College London, MSc in Epidemiology from LSHTM with a clinical experience in neurosurgery from the University of Aleppo. Abdulkarim is a Health System Expert at the Centre for Conflict and Health Research at King's College London and a Co-Investigator of a four-year NIHR funded project, Research for Health System Strengthening in Northern Syria (R4HSSS). He specialises in health systems strengthening, humanitarian health, health security, epidemiology, and building health research capacity in conflict settings. His publications span over 40 academic journal articles and book chapters. His 15 years experience includes academic, policy and humanitarian health programmes for Save the Children International, Expertise France, Chatham House among others with involvement in polio eradication programmes, primary health care, health information systems and health governance initiatives.
Mhd Hassan Idelbi
Mhd Hassan Idelbi is the Lead for Institution Building at the Syria Development Centre. He is a PhD student holding a master’s degree in Management and Organisation from the Marmara University in Istanbul with a background in medicine. He has nine years experience in local and international NGOs functioning in the Syrian humanitarian response field between Syria and South East Turkey especially within the health, medical education, and economic empowerment sectors. He is the Lead of Institution Building within the Board of Directors for MAPs in Turkey and Syria, leading pioneering innovative solutions for education and economic challenges faced by Syrian refugees and IDPs. Hassan possesses strong methodological expertise in qualitatively exploring the experiences of Syrian local humanitarian NGOs in Southeast from institutional logics and institutional entrepreneurship perspectives. This enables him to provide comprehensive diagnostic and prognostic views with tactical and strategic recommendations for addressing challenges within the organisational ecosystem.
Fadi Alhalabi
Fadi Alhalabi is the Lead for Impact and Quality Assurance at the Syria Development Centre. He is a master’s degree holder in Health Management and Policy from the American University of Beirut with a background in neurosurgery. Fadi’s training in neurosurgery was interrupted by his displacement to Lebanon. Fadi established the Multi Aid Programs (MAPs) organisation which has pioneered innovative and sustainable solutions to long-term education and health issues facing Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Turkey, and Syria. This impact resulted from the labour laws that limit Fadi’s employment as a healthcare worker. With MAPs, he leads refugee camps children to international robotics competitions, runs schools and healthcare centres providing employment to Syrian refugee teachers and healthcare workers as well as incubates local refugee-led social enterprises for funding the schools and centres.
Alnarjes Harba
Alnarjes Harba is the Programmes Coordinator at the Syria Development Centre. She is an MSc degree holder in Global Health in Conflict from St. George's, University of London with a background in healthcare management graduating from Southern New Hampshire University. Alnarjes is experienced in coordinating community mental health and medical education programs. Alnarjes has been awarded the Hansen Fellowship on International Cooperation and Conflict Resolution from the Hansen Leadership Institute at San Diego University.
Omer Abdrabbuh
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Omer Abdrabbuh is a Medical Education Coordinator at SyriaDev. Currently, he is pursuing a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern in the USA, having graduated from Istanbul University CerrahpaÅŸa Medical School. With a passion for volunteering and leadership, Omer co-founded and served as the president of MedX, a medical student assembly dedicated to build distinguished, scientifically influential, and socially effective young medical students in Turkiye. He is the coordinator of the medical education working stream of NIHR funded project, Research for Health System Strengthening in Northern Syria (R4HSSS) and was a co-author of research papers focused on rebuilding the medical education system and enhancing research capacity in conflict zones. Omer actively volunteers with the Multi Aid Programs (MAPs), and the Turkish Red Crescent and leads initiatives focused on improving refugee access to education in Syria and Turkiye.