Samer
Wahood

Concentration 

Spring '20, Public Policy/Computational Biology

Award Year 

2020
Office of Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)

Samer Wahood is a junior concentrating in public policy and computational biology. Born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Samer grew up for a few years in the Middle East before moving to Chicago’s southwest suburbs, which he calls home. Having family affected by the Syrian refugee crisis, he is passionate about refugee health and access to resources post-migration. In high school, he was involved as a medical translator in Greece’s refugee camps. Since coming to Brown, he has been a coordinator and tutor for Brown Refugee Youth Tutoring and Enrichment (BRYTE). As a coordinator, he has had a direct role in securing finances for community events and college preparatory resources for the 180 refugees in the program, liaising between BRYTE and Rhode Island’s refugee health clinic and managing a team of volunteer tutors. He also works directly with a student to offer weekly tutoring in math and english. Through research and legislation, Samer hopes to deeply understand the driving forces behind social issues like the Syrian refugee crisis and to gain an understanding of how he can play a role in creating solutions.