Dr. Zaher Sahloul

Zaher is president of the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), a leading medical relief organization that works to meet health care needs in Syria during the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Zaher led the transformation of SAMS from a small, ethnic-based professional organization into an effective, resilient, innovative global relief organization through advocacy, collaboration, and creative use of technology. Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis 3 years ago, SAMS has supported doctors, nurses, and hospitals there, providing over $20 million in medical and psychological care in Syria and to Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey. Zaher has helped train medical relief workers in topics such as medical practice in war zones, dealing with limited resources, and disaster management. He is regularly called on to speak on global public health issues related to the Syrian crisis in national news media, on Capitol Hill, and at the White House.