Session 1 – The current state of humanitarian medicine:  lessons learned from Gaza

When: May 14, 2026

Location: Alway Room M114 or by Zoom

Register: In-person | Zoom webinar (link to come)

Humanitarian medicine today sits at the intersection of global health, ethics, crisis response, and politics.  Numerous agencies are working towards delivering medicine in less-resourced settings, which are often afflicted by conflict or susceptible to natural disasters. However, modern conflicts have brought to light several challenges affecting health care in humanitarian settings and flaws of the current system to protect the civilian population, particularly children. Members of the healthcare and academic communities can engage with these realities, educate themselves and others, and explore avenues for meaningful advocacy and action.

In this seminar series, physicians, public health personnel, policy makers, and other specialists working in conflict zones will discuss some of the more prominent issues within humanitarian medicine today.  

The first session will focus on the current state of humanitarian medicine, highlighting the experience in Gaza with experts who have worked in this space on the ground and in the academic setting.

Panel

Feroze Sidhwa, MD, MPH

Humanitarian Surgeon. General, trauma, and critical care surgeon, San Joaquin General Hospital.

Yotam Polizer

Global CEO of IsraAID – Israel’s biggest humanitarian NGO

Tom Dannebaum, JD, PhD

Professor of Law, Stanford Law School. Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

Moderator: Paul H. Wise, MD, MPH
Professor of Child Health and Society and Professor of Pediatrics and Health Policy, Stanford University School of Medicine. Senior fellow, Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law and the Freeman Spogli Institute

Opening Remarks

Aslam Khan, DO

Clinical Assistant Professor. Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases, Stanford University School of Medicine

Amanda Marr Chung, DrPH

Executive Director of the Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health