Academic Rank

Associate

Department/Institute Affiliation(s)

Department of International Health

Dr. Darwish is an associate faculty at the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health studying complex humanitarian emergencies, particularly in the Middle East. Upon graduating with an MD from Damascus University, he joined the Red Crescent/Red Cross movement in Syria and Lebanon as the Coordinator of Emergency Medical Services and Disaster Management from 2016 to 2017.

Dr. Darwish led complex operations in the field, including conducting needs assessment of internally displaced civilians within siege areas, strategizing transport missions of critical medical supplies and equipment, and collaborating with donors to garner timely funding support. He also helped develop the emergency response program by training hundreds of staff and volunteers in health responses in crises, camp management, and emergency needs assessment. In 2017, he came to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to pursue a Master in Public Health as the first Refugee Scholar. He then stayed on as faculty in the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health researching the effects of the US fund cuts to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) on the health services of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan,  maternal and child health indicators in humanitarian settings and an assessment of the pharmaceutical sector in Syria using quantitative and qualitative tools and a mixed-methods approach. His research aims to inform sustainable, evidence-based health programs and policies in complex humanitarian emergencies.