Sara A. Snyder
PsyD, MPH, MA - Clinical Trauma Psychologist and Health Equity Researcher
Cambridge Health Alliance | Harvard Medical School
sasnyder@challiance.org
Cambridge, MA, USA

Dr. Snyder is a clinical trauma psychologist and health equity researcher. She is the Director of Research and Development for Cambridge Health Alliance Asylum Program (CHAAP) and is a research fellow in the Department of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital for Dr. Altaf Saadi’s Neurodisparities and Health Justice Lab. Dr. Snyder was a faculty member for three Asylum Medicine Training Initiative modules and holds an academic appointment at Harvard Medical School.

She completed her 50-50% clinical-research postdoctoral fellowship at CHA/HMS with time divided as in the Victims of Violence Program and the department of Population Health. Prior to receiving her doctorate, Dr. Snyder received two global health degrees from Columbia University; a: MPH in Public Health & Humanitarian Assistance and MA in Global Mental Health & Trauma. Her global work involves measurement adaptation for local idioms of distress, mental health care capacity building, and access to care programs. She works predominantly with displaced persons, such as former child soldiers, refugees, IDPs, and incarcerated persons. Dr. Snyder has worked on projects in the UAE, Jordan, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania.

Prior humanitarian projects include a: 1) RCT in Jordan’s Za’atari Refugee Camp & urban pockets assessing psychosocial case management; 2) formative evaluation of a psychosocial & livelihoods support program for former Lord’s Resistance Army child soldiers; 3) monitoring & evaluation plan to assess literacy & numeracy gains for programs in Rwanda resettlements; 4) grant to increase mental health care access for women in the UAE; and 5) re-design of HoNOS for a Middle Eastern Refugee population. Domestic work focuses on police brutality, forensic medical evaluations for asylum seekers, and equitable mental healthcare access.