About Yara Asi
Explore Yara Asi’s academic journey, research, teaching, global health advocacy, and commitment to human rights in conflict-affected communities worldwide today.
Academic Profile
Education & Career Highlights
A concise overview of Yara’s academic background, faculty experience, global appointments, teaching career, and scholarly work.
PhD in Public Affairs
Health Services Management and Research Track at the University of Central Florida.
Assistant Professor
School of Global Health Management and Informatics at the University of Central Florida.
Scholar & Fellow
Appointments with Harvard University, George Mason University, DAWN, FMEP, and Arab Center Washington DC.
Conflict & Quality of Life
A comparative study examining conflict, health, and quality of life in the Palestinian territories and Jordan.
Teaching Since 2013
Progressing from adjunct instructor and lecturer to postdoctoral scholar and assistant professor.
Health Research & Policy
Teaching statistics, research methods, healthcare systems, civic engagement, and health services administration.
Academic Journey
From health sciences to the study of conflict, policy, and human wellbeing.
My academic journey began in exercise physiology, first at Florida State University and later through graduate study at the University of Central Florida. I went on to earn a PhD in Public Affairs, focusing on health services management and research. My doctoral work examined how prolonged conflict shapes quality of life in the Palestinian territories and Jordan.
I currently serve as an Assistant Professor in the School of Global Health Management and Informatics at the University of Central Florida. Before joining the faculty in this role, I worked at UCF as an adjunct instructor, lecturer, and postdoctoral scholar, building a career that brings together research, teaching, policy, and public service.
Research Purpose
Understanding how conflict, inequality, and political systems shape health.
My research examines health and human rights in fragile and conflict-affected populations, with particular attention to gender, global health, and the social and political determinants of wellbeing. I study how displacement, structural violence, racism, restricted movement, damaged infrastructure, and humanitarian systems influence the health of individuals and communities.
This work has included funded research on racial violence, health-care access in the West Bank, opioid-use treatment, and public health education. Through projects supported by organisations including the Research Council of Norway and the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, I connect evidence with the broader political conditions that determine who receives care, protection, and opportunity.
Teaching Practice
Creating learning experiences grounded in evidence, curiosity, and public responsibility.
At UCF, I teach undergraduate and graduate courses across health research, health-care systems, statistics, civic engagement, and health services administration. My goal is to help students understand not only how health systems function, but also how policy, history, inequality, and political decisions influence the outcomes those systems produce.
Teaching also extends beyond the classroom through research mentorship, student supervision, curriculum development, and professional training. I encourage students to approach complex global health questions with analytical rigour, ethical awareness, and respect for the lived experiences behind every dataset, policy decision, and humanitarian crisis.
Public Engagement
Bringing academic research into global conversations that shape public understanding.
Alongside my university work, I have held fellowships and scholarly appointments with the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University, the Foundation for Middle East Peace, Democracy for the Arab World Now, Arab Center Washington DC, and the Raphaël Lemkin Genocide Prevention Program at George Mason University.
I regularly contribute to public discussions through lectures, panels, media interviews, podcasts, policy commentary, and professional service. My work has been recognised through honours including the Victor Sidel and Barry Levy Award for Peace, the Middle East Policy Council’s 40 Under 40 recognition, and the International Studies Association Global Health Young Investigator Award.
The book
How War Kills
In How War Kills: The Overlooked Threats to Our Health, Yara Asi reframes war as a global public health crisis shaped by destruction, displacement, deprivation, disease, damaged infrastructure, and militarism.
My first book examines how conflict harms health, weakens essential systems, disrupts communities, and creates lasting consequences for civilians long after immediate violence and media attention have ended.
SPEAKING & MEDIA
Insight for Important Conversations
Available for lectures, keynote conversations, panels, podcasts, media interviews, academic events, and discussions on health, conflict, human rights, and humanitarian policy.