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Zaher Sahloul
Born
Syria
Education
Occupations
Years active2000-Present
Known forHumanitarian Activism
Notable workSyrian American Medical Society
SpouseSuzanne Akhras

Zaher Sahloul is a Syrian-American physician, activist, and humanitarian known for his efforts to improve access to healthcare and protect medical neutrality in conflict zones and low-income communities around the world, particularly in Syria, Ukraine, and Gaza.[1][2][3][4]

Sahloul co-founded and served as the president of MedGlobal in 2017,[3][5] and the president of the Syrian American Medical Society from 2011-2015.[6]

Early life and education

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Dr. Sahloul was born in Algeria to Syrian elementary school teachers and spent his early years in Homs, Syria.[5] He graduated summa cum laude and earned his M.D. from Damascus University in 1988. In 1989, he migrated to the United States, where he completed his training in Internal Medicine from 1990 to 1993, and a fellowship in Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago from 1993-1996.[5]

Career

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Professionally, Dr. Sahloul is a Critical Care specialist at Advocate Christ Medical Center and Saint Anthony’s hospital and Associate Professor in Clinical Medicine at the University of Illinois in Chicago.[7][8]

In 1998, he co-founded the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) and served as its senior advisor until 2016.[2][9] He also held the position of president at SAMS from 2011 to 2015.[10]

He is also the founder and President of Syria Faith Initiative, which is a non-sectarian, apolitical coalition of interfaith leaders working for improvement of Syrian society.[11] He is the founder and partner at Midwest Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Consultants, LLC since 2000.[12] He co-founded SAMS Global Response to address the refugee crisis in Europe, as well as the American Relief Coalition for Syria (ARCS), a coalition of 14 humanitarian organizations.[13]

He has also been a board member of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Heartland Alliance,[14] American Business Immigration Coalition,[15] and chaired the Council of Islamic Organization of Greater Chicago from 2008-2012.[16] He was appointed as a member of Illinois board of health by Governor Pat Quinn from 2009-2016. Dr. Sahloul sits on the advisory boards of the Syrian Community Network (SCN), and the Center for Public Health and Human Rights and Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. From 2010 to 2014 he was a board member of American Islamic College.[17]

In 2017, Dr. Sahloul co-founded MedGlobal, a humanitarian charitable non-governmental organization that provides emergency response and health programs vulnerable communities around the world.[18][19][20] In 2020, he co-founded the American Coalition for Ukraine to support the humanitarian response to the Russian war in Ukraine. Sahloul is also an active supporter of human rights and actively talks and writes about such issues on various news platforms.[21][22][23][24][25][26][18]

In April 2024, Dr. Sahloul was among a small group of Muslim-American leaders who met with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.[27]

Achievements

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Dr. Sahloul was the receiver of 2018 Top Muslim Achiever award from The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC).[28] He was awarded the Gandhi Award for Peace for his humanitarian work in 2020.[29][30] He has also received other awards including Dr. Robert Kirschner’s Award for Global Activism by Heartland Alliance Kovler Center 2017[31] and annual humanitarian award by UNICEF Chicago 2017.[32]

In June 2024, Sahloul was chosen by US Senator Dick Durbin as the senator’s guest for President Biden’s State of the Union address to Congress, due to his long record of medical aid work and particular focus on alleviating suffering in Gaza.[33]

Personal life

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He is married to Suzanne Akhras and the couple has three children.[34]

References

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  1. ^ Patil, Anushka (March 22, 2024). "Back From Gaza Hospitals, Doctors Tell Washington of Horrors Amid Cease-Fire Push". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 10, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Hilleary, Cecily (August 28, 2013). "Syrian-American Doctor: Medical Workers Among Those Killed in Gas Attack". Voice of America. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Guldogan, Diyar (October 18, 2024). "Gaza aid warning to Israel could be 'piece of hope' if US takes serious steps: American doctor". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  4. ^ Horng, Eric (April 5, 2022). "Suburban doctor returns to Ukraine border with more medical supplies, hopes of reaching Kyiv". ABC7 Chicago. Archived from the original on June 6, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Hanania, Ray (April 16, 2020). "US coronavirus battle evokes painful Syrian war memories for Arab American doctor". Arab News. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  6. ^ Rubenstein, Leonard S.; Sahloul, M. Zaher (November 19, 2014). "In Syria, Doctors Become the Victims". Opinion. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 2, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  7. ^ Cotto, Jennifer (March 7, 2023). "Area Doctors Return From Volunteering in Turkey and Syria Following Earthquakes". WTTW. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
  8. ^ "M. Zaher Sahloul". The Conversation. August 16, 2016. Archived from the original on December 9, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  9. ^ Cauchi, E.D. (September 18, 2016). "Doctors are fighting a losing battle in the siege of Aleppo". NBC News. Archived from the original on May 9, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  10. ^ Blumenthal, Max (April 12, 2018). "How the Syrian American Medical Society Is Selling Regime Change and Driving the U.S. to War". Truthdig. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  11. ^ "On the Issues Episode 99: Dr. Zaher Sahloul - Alon Ben-Meir". Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  12. ^ "Dr. Mohammed Zaher Sahloul, MD". vitals.com. May 4, 2015. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  13. ^ "Ex-classmate on Assad: 'A doctor killing doctors'". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  14. ^ "FEEL INSPIRED" (PDF). heartlandalliance.org. December 6, 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 7, 2024.
  15. ^ "Meet Our Key Leaders". American Business Immigration Coalition. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  16. ^ Brachear, Manya; Garcia, Monique; Tribune, Chicago (August 20, 2010). "Leave mosque debate out of politics, Muslims urge Quinn". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  17. ^ "American Islamic College to reopen in Chicago". Chicago Tribune. October 1, 2010. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  18. ^ a b Sahloul, Zaher (March 1, 2022). "Zaher Sahloul: Russia's attacks in Syria were a prelude to Putin's war on Ukraine". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  19. ^ "Dr. Zaher Sahloul - MedGlobal". MedGlobal. January 26, 2023. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  20. ^ Kate, Armanini (February 13, 2024). "'A moral imperative': Team of Chicago doctors travels to Gaza for medical relief efforts". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on May 5, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  21. ^ Abbara, Aula; Almalla, Mohamed; AlMasri, Ibrahim; AlKabbani, Hussam; Karah, Nabil; El-Amin, Wael; Rajan, Latha; Rahhal, Ibrahim; Alabbas, Mohammad; Sahloul, Zaher; Tarakji, Ahmad; Sparrow, Annie (January 1, 2020). "The challenges of tuberculosis control in protracted conflict: The case of Syria". International Journal of Infectious Diseases: IJID: Official Publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases. 90: 53–59. doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2019.10.015. ISSN 1878-3511. PMID 31639519.
  22. ^ "Gaza reaches 'tipping point,' doctors tell UN in plea for help". ABC News. Archived from the original on May 7, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  23. ^ Sahloul, Zaher (March 31, 2024). "Opinion: Half measures won't work. What Gaza needs is a Marshall Plan". CNN. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  24. ^ Muslim, Farida; Attar, Samer; Sahloul, Zaher (September 13, 2016). "Doctors and Nurses in Aleppo Respond to Gary Johnson". TIME. Archived from the original on December 14, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  25. ^ Sahloul, M. Zaher (November 9, 2016). "I'm a doctor in Chicago. Here's what I saw when I went to help in Aleppo". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  26. ^ Sahloul, Zaher (May 16, 2023). "Putin targets Ukrainian civilians because he could in Syria". Al Jazeera. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  27. ^ "Palestinian American doctor from Chicago explains why he walked out of meeting with President Biden". ABC7 Chicago. April 3, 2024. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  28. ^ "Dr. Zaher Sahloul: CIOGC 2018 Top Muslim Achiever – CIOGC". www.ciogc.org. Archived from the original on June 12, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  29. ^ Sawah, Wael (January 15, 2021). "2020 Gandhi Peace Award Honors Two Syrians". The Syrian Observer. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  30. ^ "Dr. Zaher Sahloul recognized with Ghandi Peace Award". The Mecca Center. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  31. ^ "Kovler Center To Award Syrian Doctor". WBEZ. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  32. ^ "7th Annual UNICEF Chicago Humanitarian Awards Luncheon | UNICEF USA". www.unicefusa.org. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  33. ^ "Durbin Announces Chicago's Dr. Zaher Sahloul, President of MedGlobal, As State of the Union in Guest in Senate Floor Speech | U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois". www.durbin.senate.gov. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  34. ^ Kapos, Shia; Hurst, Adrienne (August 22, 2019). "LIGHTFOOT VS. CTU — WALSH VS. TRUMP? — CITY TO CHURCHES: Pay for trash pick-up". Politico. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
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