Sirad Hassan, MS is a third-year PhD student in Population Health Sciences (Social & Behavioral Sciences) at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Harvard Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Her doctoral training is concentrated in Social Epidemiology, with formal minors in Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities and Mixed-Methods Research.

Her research investigates how structural racism, health systems, and migration experiences shape disparities in autism diagnosis and care, with particular attention to Somali and other refugee families navigating early childhood developmental services. Her work integrates mixed-methods research, community-based participatory approaches, and decolonial ethics of care.

Sirad holds an M.S. in Human Nutrition from Columbia University and an A.B. in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University, with minors in African American Studies, African Studies, Cognitive Science, and Global Health & Health Policy. Her undergraduate thesis, Trauma and Resilience: An Analysis of Somali Refugee Women and their Experiences in Health Care in the United States, involved extensive fieldwork and interviews with Somali refugee women across four U.S. resettlement sites, examining how displacement and cultural identity shape health care experiences.

Across her academic and community work, Sirad is committed to expanding culturally grounded mental health and disability advocacy within refugee and migrant communities.