Adam Elzarka

Adam Elzarka is a recent graduate from the University of Cincinnati with bachelor’s degrees in medical sciences and liberal arts. He joined the University of Cincinnati as a Cincinnatus Scholar and member of the University Honors Program.

Adam is committed to mitigating barriers to education and health equity, especially those faced by refugees and immigrants.

He has served as the President of Refuge-UC, an organization that promotes higher education among refugee and immigrant students through mentorship. Inspired by his time volunteering as a Refuge mentor, he has also conducted public health research on improving the students’ health literacy rates. He has furthered this work through the co-founding of Refuge Collaborative, a nonprofit focused on empowering refugee adolescents.

Additionally, Adam worked in the emergency department as part of the Early Intervention Program. He provided education and support to address the mental health, sexual health, and substance use stigmas that underserved patients encounter.

Adam has interned with USAID and has studied Arabic extensively in Oman and Morocco as a Boren and CLS Scholar. He has also worked on community-based projects in Thailand as part of his involvement in GlobeMed at UC, a student organization partnered with the SAW Foundation to aid Burmese migrants.

At graduation, Adam was awarded the Presidential Leadership Medal of Excellence. He is currently researching refugee health literacy in Amman, Jordan as a recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship. He intends to pursue a joint MD/MPH and is particularly interested in leveraging policy to form community-led solutions that promote refugee and immigrant health. In his free time, he enjoys playing basketball with his friends and board games with his family.

A UC News article on Adam's Truman Scholarship win can be found here.

Check out the UC News article on Adam's CLS Scholarship win here.