Reading Refuge Book Club: Dr. Nour Akhras

We are thrilled to partner with the Syrian Community Network in welcoming Dr. Nour Akhras to talk about her new book, Just One: A Journey of Perseverance and Conviction,  which chronicles the life of Dr. Akhras, a Syrian American doctor. Dr. Akhras is a pediatric infectious diseases physician, one of only 1,500 in the United States. Just One honestly portrays her struggles as an American Muslim in an Islamophobic climate and as a mother providing humanitarian aid in war-torn countries around the globe. Throughout her journey, she takes inspiration from the extraordinary courage of young and old refugees forced to abandon their homes yet determined to survive and rebuild their lives. Each story is different, and every loss is personal. Between heartbreaking realities and moments of resilience, she implores readers to respect the dignity of every human life.

Dr. Akhras has been working at a free-standing Women and Children’s hospital in the suburbs of Chicago for the last decade.  She trained in pediatrics at the University of Illinois – Chicago and completed her fellowship in Ann Arbor. She has traveled on multiple medical missions to serve Syrian refugees in Turkey and Greece as well as displaced victims of war in Yemen.  She has served on the boards of NGOs like MedGlobal and the Syrian-American Medical Society. Dr. Akhras has advocated for the rights of refugees by authoring op eds in local and national newspapers and via speaking engagements, including presenting at Washington DC’s National Press Club discussing the effects of Syrian war violence on the lives of women and children. As the Syrian crisis continues in its twelfth year, she continues to advocate for peaceful change such that the 6 million Syrian refugees displaced throughout the world can find a path home.