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A Conversation with Dr. Petra Khoury
March 1st @ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Join the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) for an engaging and insightful discussion featuring Dr. Petra Khoury, Global Director of Health and Care at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
Dr. Khoury will discuss the role of the IFRC in emergency contexts and the variety of ways the network is supporting the critical healthcare and humanitarian response interventions in Gaza and Israel undertaken by member National Societies, including Magen David Adom, Palestinian Red Crescent Society, Egyptian Red Crescent Society, and Lebanese Red Cross Society.
The discussion will also explore the strategies, resilience, and determination of the National Societies as they deliver real-time lifesaving assistance and healthcare to populations in need in Gaza and Israel.
The event will be moderated by Dr. Phuong Pham, Director of Education at HHI.
This event is open to Harvard University ID holders.
About the Speaker
Petra Khoury, PharmD, is Global Director of Health and Care at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Headquarters in Geneva. In her current role, she oversees the IFRC operational plan on global health security, health protection and water, sanitation and hygiene. She works with a network of 191 Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies on health preparedness, readiness and emergency response plans.
Prior to this role, she assumed a public health leadership role serving as Senior Health Advisor to the Prime Minister of Lebanon. She led the national COVID-19 response plan and served as Chair of the national COVID-19 Vaccination Executive Committee. In this capacity, she developed and executed the operational response and vaccination plan and became the nation’s scientific spokesperson on COVID-19 related matters. She also coordinated the national health disaster plan after the Beirut Blast on August 4, 2020.
Prior to joining the public health sector, Petra was Chief Quality and Compliance Officer and part of the Executive Leadership Team at the American University of Beirut Medical Centre (AUBMC). In this role, she had oversight over quality, safety, risk management, medico-legal, Joint Commission accreditations and regulatory compliance. She started her clinical career as a healthcare professional at Massachusetts General Hospital covering different patient care services as an infectious disease specialist and managed the antimicrobial stewardship program.
Petra holds a doctorate degree in Pharmacy. She completed her residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), where she specialized in infectious diseases. She also earned a post-graduate certificate in Quality, Safety, Leadership and Informatics from Harvard Medical School. She is fluent in Arabic, English and French.
