2026 Zameli Family Fellow
April 6, 2026 on Northeastern’s Boston Campus and Online
A Day of Learning with Dr. Usama Hamdan, MD, FICS
The Social Impact Lab is proud to welcome Dr. Usama Hamdan, MD, FICS to Northeastern University as our 2026 Zameli Family Fellow. Dr. Hamdan is a distinguished otolaryngologist/facial plastic surgeon, lecturer, and philanthropist. As the president and co-founder of Global Smile Foundation, a Boston-based nonprofit organization, he has dedicated nearly four decades to providing comprehensive pro bono cleft care to underserved patients around the world. Dr. Hamdan established the transformative International Comprehensive Cleft Care Workshop to provide simulation-based cleft training that empowers local health practitioners to achieve the highest standards of sustainable, comprehensive cleft care in their communities. His achievements have earned him numerous accolades, including awards from the President and Congressional Assembly of Ecuador and a citation from the City of Boston for the impact of his humanitarian work.
Dr. Hamdan was chosen to be the Social Impact Lab’s 2026 Zameli Family Fellow because his work is deeply grounded in a commitment to ethical community engagement and local capacity building to empower health care providers, patients, and communities to achieve personalized, sustainable healthcare practices around the world. Please join us on Monday, April 6 for a lunch lecture entitled Measuring Impact with Purpose in Global Public Health and an afternoon coffee break and discussion with Dr. Hamdan and Rebecca Riccio, Juffali Family Director of the Social Impact Lab, on Humanizing Global Health: Ethics, Challenges, and Rewards. See below for event details and registration links.
Schedule of Events
Please join us in person or online. Registration is required for each event you plan to attend.
Monday, April, 12:00-1:30 pm, 310 Renaissance Park or online
Drawing on lessons learned from nearly 40 years of advancing comprehensive and sustainable cleft care around the world, Dr. Hamdan, in this talk and Q&A, will explain how GSF measures impact not by the number of surgeries performed, but by the long-term benefits to patients, families, and communities.
Lunch will be provided.
Please register here for in-person attendance.
Please register here for Zoom attendance.
Monday, April 6 from 3:00 – 4:00 pm at 909 Renaissance Park or online
Dr. Hamdan and Social Impact Lab Director Rebecca Riccio will discuss how principles of ethical community engagement can lead to better outcomes by empowering and equipping local health providers, patients, families, and communities to achieve personalized, sustainable healthcare.
GSF and SIL share an abiding commitment to principles of ethical community engagement. Drawing on GSF’s nearly forty years of experience empowering and equipping local health care providers to meet their communities’ needs, Dr. Hamdan and Director Riccio will discuss how ethical practice is also strategic and effective.
Snacks will be served.
Please register here for in-person attendance.
Please register here for Zoom attendance.
About Dr. Usama Hamdan
Dr. Usama Hamdan is president and co-founder of Global Smile Foundation, a Boston-based nonprofit foundation that provides comprehensive pro bono cleft care for underserved patients throughout the Global South. An otolaryngologist and facial plastic surgeon with past appointments at Harvard Medical School, Tufts University School of Medicine, and Boston University School of Medicine, Dr. Hamdan established the International Comprehensive Cleft Care Workshop to provide simulation-based cleft training that empowers local health practitioners to achieve the highest standards of sustainable, comprehensive cleft care. Dr. Hamdan’s globally recognized work is deeply grounded in a commitment to ethical community engagement and local capacity building.
Read more about the Global Smile Foundation here.
About the Zameli Family Fellowship
Northeastern parents Mohamed and Dina Zameli established the Zameli Family Fellowship to demonstrate the Social Impact Lab’s global relevance and introduce Northeastern faculty, staff, and students to frontline social change practitioners from around the world. The Social Impact Lab gratefully acknowledges their vision and support.