Diana Rayes

Diana Rayes is a global mental health research consultant and Research Fellow with the Lancet Commission on Syria. After living and working in humanitarian and host country contexts spanning the Middle East and Europe, Diana became interested in examining the impact of uncertainty on refugee mental health and well-being. Her research interests are in refugee trauma and faith-sensitive approaches to mental health service provision and humanitarian programming. She recently returned from Germany, where she completed a Fulbright Research Fellowship, studying the various methods of cultural and religious coping among Arabic-speaking refugees living in Berlin, and how these factors impact their integration into European society. In the past, she has consulted for the World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (WHO EMRO), Action Contre Le Faim, the Syria Public Health Network, and coordinated humanitarian health projects for the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health, the International Rescue Committee, and the Syrian American Medical Society. Her work has been published in The Lancet, the British Medical Journal, PLOS Medicine, and Middle East Topics & Arguments. Diana is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Arizona State University. Twitter: @diana_r7

Articles by: Diana Rayes

The Koblenz Trial: Transitional Justice and the Work Ahead

The trial in Koblenz, which led to the conviction of a former regime official earlier this year, may represent a first step, or “a drop in the ocean,” towards what it will...

The Beirut Explosion’s Impact on Mental Health

Following the explosion, there has been a renewed interest in scaling up mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services provided by local and international humanitarian organizations, UN agencies, and government facilities.