CFD Team Spotlight: Dorsa Ghazanfari, Undergraduate Fellow
The Newsletter Team sat down with one of our undergraduate fellows, Dorsa Ghazanfari, for an interview about her work, passions, hobbies, and special CFD projects. The transcript of our interview is below.
CFD Team: Tell us a bit about yourself.
My name is Dorsa Ghazanfari and I am from Scottsdale, Arizona (very different climate than Boston’s weather). I am a freshman at Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, majoring in Health Science also on the pre-med track. On campus, I am a member of Pioneer Impact Consulting, a student-led consulting firm that helps immigrants and refugees develop and launch new business ideas. Outside of academics, I am a passionate fan of musical theater and always excited to discover new productions to experience.
CFD Team: What is your role within the Center?
I’m an undergraduate research assistant, currently working on a systematic review examining Afghan refugee access to healthcare in Central Asia. In the future, I hope to write more reviews analyzing the lack of research on Afghan refugees in this region.
CFD Team: What experiences most directly led you to your role with the Center?
I grew up in a Farsi-speaking household, which if you don’t know comes from the same dialect as Dari which is also the language people in Afghanistan speak. After the Taliban’s takeover in 2022, a surge of Afghan refugees entered my school district. Being someone who spoke their language, I knew that I wanted to help in any way that I could. And so, I put my language skills to the test and signed up as a volunteer at my city’s local refugee health clinic. There, I served as a translator between patients and the physician. As days went on in the clinic, I learned of the limited access of resources the Afghan families truly had. All issues ranging from understaffed physicians, short supply of technology, and lack of transportation. This experience gave me a firsthand perspective on the health challenges that refugees face, particularly in accessing essential medical care. It was from my time at the clinic I realized that I wanted to continue work helping refugees in the healthcare field.
CFD Team: What inspires you about this work?
My parents were refugees from Iran, where, as followers of the Bahá’í Faith (a religious minority), they were denied access to higher education. Determined to build a better future, they made the difficult decision to escape and start a new life in America. Their journey instilled in me a deep awareness of the struggles faced by displaced communities—everything from navigating unfamiliar healthcare systems, overcoming language barriers, and finding stability in an unfamiliar place. It is their resilience that inspires me to advocate for equitable healthcare access, particularly for refugees who encounter similar obstacles today.
CFD Team: What drew you to this position?
My first visit to BU was what initially drew me to this position. During my tour, I learned about the Center on Forced Displacement, aligning perfectly with my passion for refugee advocacy and my drive to create meaningful change. Thus, when I first came to BU the first place I reached out to was the Center. I was incredibly fortunate to be given this opportunity by Dr. Zaman, and I’m excited to contribute to the center’s initiatives, furthering my commitment to advocacy and impact in this field!