Bio

Nojus Saad, MD, is a physician-entrepreneur and digital health diplomat dedicated to engineering health justice through scalable digital systems. As a volunteer humanitarian advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO), he co-develops global adolescent health indicators adopted by the World Bank, UNFPA, UN H6+ Partners, and UN Member States. His leadership in rural and LMIC communities across Iraq, India, and France is anchored by his role as a former founder and executive at the Youth For Women Foundation, where he spearheaded 45 youth-led initiatives directly impacting the lives of 18,500 women and young people.

Dr. Saad’s diplomatic expertise spans health and security, having served as UN Youth Ambassador for Disarmament and Biosecurity (UNODA) and as the MENA Youth Lead for the Swiss-based DTH-Lab. Through these mandates, he mobilized coalitions across 12 MENA countries to integrate digital innovation into national health agendas. This high-level advocacy is validated by his track record as a systems architect; in 2021, he orchestrated a digital health literacy and COVID-19 misinformation initiative for rural and displaced populations. By building the digital capacity of NGO leaders and youth, he empowered grassroots networks to execute 15 targeted awareness campaigns, reaching 10,000 women and youth to strengthen their access to reliable health services.

Looking ahead, Dr. Saad aspires to build a coordinated, all-in-one digital health platform connecting Iraq’s public and private healthcare sectors. The envisioned system would use interoperable electronic health records and data-driven referral matching to streamline patient pathways and connect individuals with high-quality, cost-effective care both within Iraq and internationally, including the United States and France. His long-term vision is to help unify fragmented healthcare systems and improve access to specialized care.

A Knight-Hennessy Scholar and former advisor to Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation, Dr. Saad holds an MD with executive diplomatic training from the Karolinska Institute and Stockholm School of Economics. At Stanford MCiM, he is refining the technical and managerial frameworks necessary to lead the next generation of inclusive, tech-driven health systems in LMICs.

Honors & Awards

  • Knight-Hennessy Scholar, Stanford University
  • Kofi Annan Changemaker, United Nations Geneva & Kofi Annan Foundation
  • Dalai Lama Fellow, University of Virginia, Stanford University, University of Boulder Colorado
  • Advisory Board Member, Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation
  • One Young World Ambassador, Reckitt Benckiser Group
  • Advisory Panel Member, Masachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Solve
  • Technical Reviewer, The Second Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health & Wellbeing
  • ICANN Fellow, Digital Governance & Policy, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, ICANN

Professional Affiliations and Activities

  • Founder, President & CEO, Youth For Women Foundation (2018 - 2026)
  • Executive Producer & Global Ambassador, TOXSICK Film (2025 - 2026)
  • Youth Advisor to Executive Leadership, UN Office for Project Services (2024 - 2025)
  • UN Ambassador for Youth in Disarmament and Biosecurity, United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (2024 - 2025)
  • Regional Ambassador, MENA, Digital Transformations for Health Lab (2023 - 2024)

Contact

  • Academic
    nojus@stanford.edu
    University - Student Department: Medicine Position: Graduate