Human Rights During ‘Arab Spring’ and Health Worker Concerns in Syria are Topics of Nov. 6 Public and Global Health Grand Rounds.

Richard Sollom, MA, MPH, is deputy executive director and lead health and human right investigator for Physicians for Human Rights. Sollom recently returned from the Syrian border where he was documenting cases of torture and violations of medical neutrality. His talk will highlight PHR’s mission and how physicians and other health professionals are working to decrease violations of human rights, and to increase accountability when those rights are violated.

Sollom will share his perspective on the recent Arab Spring revolutions and how health workers have been thrust into the forefront of many of those fights as the care they provide is politicized.

Tuesday, Nov. 6
9 a.m.
Dowling 1 Auditorium

SPEAKER BIO:

Richard Sollom is Deputy Director at PHR, where he has served for seven years in various roles, including Director of Research and Investigations and Senior Program Associate. He currently oversees programs on emergency response, armed conflict, asylum, and UN advocacy initiatives. Mr. Sollom most recently led investigations in Bahrain, Bangladesh, Burma, Egypt, Libya, Thailand, and Zimbabwe.

With more than two decades of experience, Mr. Sollom has investigated human rights violations in more than 20 countries worldwide. Prior to his work with PHR, he served with the United Nations in Haiti, Somalia, and Burundi. He is a former Peace Corps Volunteer, Fulbright Fellow, and Albert Schweitzer Fellow, and holds advanced degrees in Public International Law from The Fletcher School and in Global Health from Harvard University.

Mr. Sollom lectures and presents widely on the topic of armed conflict and medical neutrality. His opinions appear regularly in the media including CNN, BBC, Foreign Policy, Global Post, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.