Rania Awaad

Rania Awaad, M.D. is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine where she is the Director of the Stanford Muslim Mental Health & Islamic Psychology Lab as well Stanford University's Affiliate Chaplain. She also serves as the Associate Division Chief for Public Mental Health and Population Sciences as well as the Section Co-Chief of Diversity and Cultural Mental Health. In addition, she is a faculty member of the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies at Stanford University. She pursued her psychiatric residency training at Stanford where she also completed a postdoctoral clinical research fellowship with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

As a nationally recognized leader in Muslim mental health, Dr. Awaad has been invited by Presidents Obama and Biden, the CDC, HHS and SAMHSA to present her work at national convenings in DC. She has pioneered by establishing the first Muslim Mental Health Community Advisory Board (BAMMH CAB) in the US. Dr. Awaad has also established multiple Muslim mental health clinics as well as custom-tailored clinical and educational training programs for clinicians, religious and community leaders to address the mental health needs of Muslim communities.

Through community partnerships established by the Stanford Department of Psychiatry, Dr. Awaad is currently the Psychiatric Director of the El Camino Women's Medical Group where she pursues her interest in women's mental health. Additionally, she serves as the Executive Director of Maristan, a holistic mental health nonprofit serving Muslim communities. Previously, she served as the founding Clinical Director of the Bay Area branch of the Khalil Center.