Roa Hassan

Fulbright All Disciplines Postgraduate Award - Harvard University

Roa is a physician and advocate for marginalised people. She was born in Darfur and raised in London. Roa returned to Sudan for her studies and graduated from the University of Medical Sciences and Technology in Khartoum with an MBBS (distinction) and prizes across all clinical subjects.

Following medical school, she joined the NHS as a doctor on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic response in London. Here she witnessed, first-hand, how health issues were disproportionately impacting ethnic minority groups who were being let down by a system that was designed without them in mind.

Roa is thrilled to study for a Masters in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School - with a focus on healthcare policy. She hopes to use her time in the US to find a diverse array of perspectives to build a strong community.

Roa likes to spend her time helping unaccompanied asylum seekers from the Horn of Africa settle in the UK. She also supports young, disadvantaged women through the Thiru and Friends Foundation. She is a Harvard Center for Public Leadership ELI fellow and is very excited to represent Black British culture; especially through her love of UK garage and drill music.