Altaf Saadi, MD, MSc
Altaf Saadi, MD, MSc
General Academic Neurologist, Instructor of Neurology
Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Altaf Saadi is a general academic neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Instructor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. She is also the Associate Director of the MGH Asylum Clinic, a medical expert for the Physicians for Human Rights Asylum Network, and a faculty affiliate of the MGH Mongan Institute and the MGH Center for Law, Brain & Behavior.
Her research focuses on neurologic and neuropsychiatric health disparities and addressing the needs of displaced populations including immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers, both within the community and in immigration detention. She aims to identify organizational, community, and policy-level solutions that can create healthier and more equitable communities.
One of her projects focused on understanding how hospitals and healthcare facilities can ensure that all patients feel safe when accessing health care, regardless of their immigration status, exploring the concept of “sanctuary” and “safe spaces” in the clinical setting. This research, publicly available on www.DoctorsforImmigrants.com, has been used by healthcare facilities nationwide to create more immigrant friendly healthcare spaces.
Dr. Saadi also conducts forensic medical and psychological evaluations for people in the community and in immigration detention centers, partnering with human rights, legal and civil rights organizations. She has also assessed the medical conditions of confinement in immigration detention at facilities in California and Texas. Her academic and personal writing work has been published in JAMA, JAMA Neurology, JAMA Network Open, The Lancet, Neurology, the Washington Post, Huffington Post, the Los Angeles Times, STAT News, Boston NPR’s CommonHealth Blog, and Undark Magazine, among others.
Dr. Saadi completed her neurology residency training at the Harvard Mass General Brigham Neurology Program, where she also served as Chief Resident. She completed her undergraduate studies at Yale College and earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School, where she graduated cum laude and received the Dean’s Community Service Award. She received her Masters in Health Policy and Management from UCLA, where she completed a health services post-doctoral research fellowship, the National Clinician Scholars Program. She serves on the American Academy of Neurology Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Joint Coordinating Council. She was named a 2020 STAT Wunderkind and received the 2021 YW Boston Academy of Women Achievers Sylvia Ferrell-Jones Award for a rising professional woman of color who is a leader in her field and changing Boston.