Ahmad Firas Khalid is a medical doctor, a health policy advisor, and a lecturer on health systems and policy. He recently completed his PhD in Health Policy at McMaster University with a focus on supporting the use of research evidence to inform decision-making in crisis zones.

Previously, he worked as a health policy researcher at the research unit on Humanitarian Stakes and Practices (UREPH) at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Geneva, Switzerland. He also worked in the department of Child and Maternal Health at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland.

He has expertise in medicine, education, health policy, knowledge translation and health emergencies working with relief and intergovernmental organizations. As a Queen Elizabeth Scholar in Strengthening Health and Social Systems, he travelled to Beirut (Lebanon) to work on research that examines Lebanon’s health-system response to the Syrian refugee crisis.

His most recent scholarly work on the Syrian refugee crisis is published in the prestigious Conflict and Health journal. Firas attended St. George’s University School of Medicine in 2005 where he graduated MD with Research Distinction. He also holds a Masters of Management (IMHL) from McGill University (2014), and both a Masters of Health Professions Education (2014) and a graduate certificate in population health risk assessment and management (2012) from the University of Ottawa.

Publications

Peer Reviewed Publications

• Khalid, AF, Lavis, JN., El-Jardali, F., Vanstone, M. The governmental health policy-development process for Syrian refugees: Embedded qualitative case studies in Canada and Lebanon (2019). Conflict and Health. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-019-0231-z 2.
• Khalid, AF, Lavis, JN., El-Jardali, F., Vanstone, M. Decision-makers’ experiences with the Evidence Aid website to support ‘real-time’ use of research evidence to inform decision-making in crisis situations: User testing study (2019). Health Systems & Policy (in press)
• Khalid, AF, Lavis, JN., El-Jardali, F., Vanstone, M. Supporting the use of research evidence in decision-making in crisis zones in low- and middle-income countries: A critical interpretive synthesis (2019). Health Systems & Policy (under review) 
• La Vieille, S., Lefebvre, D. E., Khalid, A. F., Decan, M. R., & Godefroy, S. (2018). Dietary restrictions for people with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency. Nutrition reviews. 
• Cho, S., Hartman, M., Khalid, A. F., Mok, J., & Sreeram, P. (2017). Syrian Refugee Women: A Vulnerable Population Struggles to Find Care. Meducator Journal, (30), 7–8.

Reports

• Khalid, A.F. Dialogue Summary: Fostering Institutional and Structural Capacity for Evidence Based Health Policy Making, World Health Organization, Cairo, Egypt. Submitted 14 December 2017
• Khalid, A.F. Dialogue Summary: Planning for the future policy and operational direction around forced displacement, Médecins Sans Frontières, Geneva, Switzerland. Submitted 30 October 2017
• Moat, K.A., Khalid, A.F. Dialogue Summary: Planning for the Future Health Workforce of Ontario. McMaster Health Forum, Hamilton, Canada. Submitted 04 November 2016.
• Khalid AF, Lavis J, Abu-Sada C. Médecins Sans Frontières approach in transferring research knowledge to policy and practice during the Syrian Refugee Crisis. Médecins Sans Frontières, Geneva, Switzerland. Submitted August 29, 2016.

Blogs

• Biermann O, Jessani N, Khalid AF, Singh S, Henriksson DK, Benson V. Sowing seeds for knowledge translation among new global health ‘change agents’. Health Systems Global. 17 December 2018.
• Biermann O, Jessani N, Khalid AF, Singh S, Henriksson DK, Benson V. Sowing seeds for knowledge translation among new global health ‘change agents’. Research to Action. 10 December 2018.

Presentations

• Khalid AF. Supporting the use of research evidence in decision-making in crisis zones in low- and middle-income countries: A critical interpretive synthesis. Canadian Conference for Global Health, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, 17 October 2019. (Oral Presentation)
• Khalid AF, Lavis J, Vanstone M, El-Jardali F. No time to wait! I need it now! Supporting the use of research evidence in crisis situations: A critical interpretive synthesis. Emerging Voice Conference, Fifth Global Symposium on Health Systems Research, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK, 6 October 2018. (Oral Presentation)
• Khalid AF, Lavis J, Abu-Sada C. Quality improvement exercise: Médecins Sans Frontières approach in transferring research knowledge to policy and practice during the Syrian Refugee Crisis. MSF Scientific Days 2017, the Royal Society of Medicine, London, UK, 19 May 2017. (Poster Presentation)
• Khalid AF, Lavis J, Abu-Sada C. Strengthening health systems: Strengthening the use of research knowledge in policy and practice during the Syrian Refugee crisis. Fourth Global Symposium on Health Systems Research, The Vancouver Convention Centre, Vancouver, Canada, 16 November 2016. (Oral Presentation)
• Khalid AF, Abelson J. An Analysis of the factors that led to the establishment of the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion Act, 2007. New Frontiers in Health Policy Conference, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 25 April 2016. (Oral Presentation)
• Khalid AF, Martines J. Risk factors for neonatal mortality in developing countries. University of Ottawa 15th interdisciplinary conference, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, 20 March 2012. (Oral Presentation)
• Khalid AF, Fakokunde A. Risk factors for emergency caesarean section in a multiethnic environment. Research competition winner. St. George’s University School of Medicine, clinical faculty meetings, Grenada, West Indies, 2 March 2010. (Oral Presentation)
• Khalid AF. The role of universities in building the knowledge and human capital for better preparedness and response to natural disasters. World Health Organization: Pan American Health Organization, Washington DC, USA, 26 February 2018. (Oral Presentation)
• Khalid AF, Lavis J, Abu-Sada C. Médecins Sans Frontières approach in transferring research knowledge to policy and practice during the Syrian Refugee Crisis. Médecins Sans Frontières European Operations Meeting, London, United Kingdom, 10 October 2016. (Oral Presentation)
• Khalid AF, Martines J. Provision of home-based care to mother and child in the first week after birth. World Health Organization, department of maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (MCA), Geneva, Switzerland, 09 February 2012. (Oral Presentation)

• HS322 - Health Policy: Social and Political Forces in Health Care Systems

• Hamilton Spectator Article: McMaster doc says academic research needs to be more accessible