Alumni Spotlight: Dawood Azeemy

In Afghanistan, public health is a new and developing field. The traditional clinical skills of physicians are valued, but outreach in communities to promote positive health practices or identify public health issues is not common.

The opportunity to improve public health in Afghanistan is what brought Dawood Azeemy to the United States and the Georgia State University School of Public Health in 2021. He received the Fulbright Scholarship to pursue his Masters of Public Health (MPH) at Georgia State, giving him the opportunity to expand his expertise in ways that weren’t possible at home.

Before starting at Georgia State, Azeemy worked as a physician for three years after completing medical school at Kabul Medical University and residency for four years at the French Medical Institute for Mothers and Children and Aga Khan University Hospital.

When he began his MPH program, the goal was to return to Afghanistan with his MPH and bring his public health knowledge back home.

“There was an urgent need for public health experts, and that was my main motivation,” Azeemy said. “Let's go and do a master's in public health, gain knowledge of the developed countries, how their health systems are and how they are doing research and policy, and then bring that knowledge back to Afghanistan and help the health system there.”

The current political and government instability in Afghanistan have changed Azeemy’s post-graduation plans and even separated him from his family. But he is still sharing knowledge to help others like him who find themselves in Atlanta, far away from home.

Making Connections at Georgia State
When he arrived in the United States, Azeemy was on his own, but not alone. Rodney Lyn, Dean of the School of Public Health, reached out to welcome him and offer support as he adjusted to life in the U.S.

“That was a very wonderful message to receive from your Dean,” said Azeemy. “It touched so deeply my heart and then I went and talked with him. In my second semester he introduced me to Georgia State University’s Prevention Research Center. I started working with them as a graduate research assistant, and I found out that they were also helping a lot of the immigrant refugee population in Clarkston.”

On the eastside of Atlanta between Decatur and Stone Mountain, Clarkston is home to residents of more than 40 nationalities, making it one of the most diverse cities in the U.S.

In the three semesters Azeemy worked with the PRC, he was able to assist researchers as they sought to solve health challenges in refugee and immigrant communities around the city. He assisted professors Michael Eriksen, Mary Helen O’Connor, Ashli Owen-Smith and Iris Feinberg by visiting the communities and collecting data.

He put his coursework to use, interpreting this data and disseminating information to the respective communities under the researchers’ guidance. Understanding the barriers to care for immigrant populations is an ongoing project, and the collaboration fostered by Georgia State makes an impact.

Likewise, Elizabeth Armstrong-Mensah, clinical associate professor in the School of Public Health, was among the professors who made an impact on Azeemy. In coursework for her class, Azeemy identified the unique differences between local and immigrating populations, as well as health disparities among them. These core principles impacted his view of global health as a whole.

“I still apply the knowledge I gained from those classes in my advocacy work and in the services that I deliver,” Azeemy said. “Overall, the knowledge that I gained from Georgia State has equipped me to become a better professional.”

Serving Communities Nearby
Azeemy’s plans to return to Afghanistan came apart after the Taliban regained control of his home country. The humanitarian crisis meant that Azeemy could not return, changing the trajectory of his plans and career.

In the face of devastation, he made up his mind to use his skills and experiences to make an impact in the U.S.

He found his job at the Center for Victims of Torture through his time working as a graduate research assistant with the PRC. His cultural knowledge of Afghanistan, paired with his learned understandings of public health best practices, made him the perfect fit for the Arman Project at the CVT.

The Arman Project serves the Afghan community in the metro Atlanta area, ensuring that clients who have experienced stress or trauma have access to assistance. The CVT offers psychotherapy and other services, helping members of the Afghan community who are rebuilding their lives in a new place.

Azeemy sought to serve his community at each step of his education, and he will continue to do so no matter the circumstances.

“We're helping all those Afghans who have been impacted by combat, have history of trauma, have history of torture, and we are trying to do that in a very sensitive way,” Azeemy said. “In a lot of immigrant and migrant communities, including the Afghan community, mental health is a stigma. It is a taboo; people don't talk about it very openly, and the same is true about my community.

“Although they have gone through a lot, they may not talk about it very openly unless you have a very comprehensive and a very appropriate approach or intervention for them.”

Azeemy’s clinical background from Afghanistan certified him as a physician, capable of diagnosing illness and treating the wounds that are visible. However, it was his experience at GSU that empowered him to tend to traumas that are unseen.

Because he underwent the transition of cultures and landscapes in his move to the U.S., Azeemy is a restorative force for his new community. It may not be his native land, but the Georgia State community has helped him feel right at home.

“Georgia State has had a profound impact on me on a personal level and on a professional level,” Azeemy said. “Even from the first day when I arrived, I felt that Georgia State is my home.”