Rania Awaad, M.D.

Dr. Rania Awaad is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine, where she directs the Muslim Mental Health & Islamic Psychology Lab and serves as an Affiliate Chaplain. She also holds leadership roles in Stanford's Public Mental Health and Diversity programs and is faculty in the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies. A graduate of Stanford's psychiatry residency and an NIMH research fellowship, she is a nationally recognized expert in Muslim mental health.

Dr. Awaad has advised the White House, CDC, and HHS, and founded the U.S.'s first Muslim Mental Health Community Advisory Board. She has established multiple mental health clinics, training programs, and community initiatives tailored to Muslim populations. She also serves as Psychiatric Director at El Camino Women's Medical Group and is Executive Director of Maristan, a nonprofit for holistic Muslim mental health.

Her Stanford courses include Islamic psychology, implicit bias, and xenophobia. Her publications include Islamophobia and Psychiatry (Springer), Applying Islamic Principles to Clinical Mental Health (Routledge), and a forthcoming APA clinical textbook. Trained in classical Islamic sciences in Damascus, she was the first female Professor of Islamic Law at Zaytuna College. She is also a Senior Fellow at Yaqeen Institute and works internationally with refugee mental health in Jordan.