Yasmeen Abu Fraiha

Dr. Yasmeen Abu Fraiha is a fellow with the Middle East Initiative and a medical doctor with a specialty in internal medicine, currently completing a clinical fellowship in critical care medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Her research focuses on healthcare policies and politics that create inequality in health services and outcomes for underserved communities. 

She formerly served as the Health Policy Director at the Task Force for Health Promotion and Equity in the Arab Society at the Israeli Ministry of Health, leading major efforts and interventions to deal with health disparities between Jews and Arabs in Israel. In 2016 she co-founded and managed Rodaina, an NGO that aims to prevent genetic diseases in the Middle East, especially in the Bedouin community, by spearheading premarital genetic testing and matching. In 2019 she co-founded Yanabia, an organization that promotes socio-economic development of the Bedouin community in Israel, while focusing on health, education, women's employment, housing and community empowerment. She also serves on multiple Board of Directors of NGOs aiming to improve Bedouin lives in Israel. She has won several awards, including the 2007 Ramon Award for quality, leadership, and excellence and was chosen to be part of Forbes' "30 Under 30" list. In 2023, she was named one of Israel's 50 most influential women by Globes Magazine. Yasmeen holds a BSc and MD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School.