Faraj Haddad, Ph.D. (he/him)
Dr. Haddad is a passionate educator who loves teaching and mentorship. Currently, he spends most of his time teaching and some of his time doing research and science outreach. Specifically, he teaches and assists with different courses in the Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences (IMS) program at Western University at both the undergraduate and graduate level.
Before becoming an assistant professor, he completed his Bachelor of Science at Western University in the Medical Sciences Program, and then pursued a graduate degree (a master's that eventually became a PhD) in Neuroscience.
For (infrequent) updates, you can follow Dr. Haddad on Twitter. If you are a current or previous student or colleague, you can also connect with him on LinkedIn!
Fun facts about Dr. Haddad:
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Dr. Haddad's first language is Arabic and he speaks a specific dialect common in Northern Iraq called Maslawi. However, because he has been speaking English on a day-to-day basis for so long since arriving in Canada, his internal dialogue has transformed from Maslawi to English.
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The name Faraj (pronounced fuh-ruj) is an Arabic word that refers to a state or event that brings joy and positivity after a period of unfortunate events. To fulfill the spirit of the name, Faraj tries to bring positivity wherever he goes!
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Outside of work, Dr. Haddad enjoys baking cakes and pizza to take in calories and swimming to burn them off.
On January 4th, 2023, Dr. Haddad sat down with members of the Physiology and Pharmacology Undergraduate Society (PUGS) and talked about his journey through undergrad, graduate school, and academia. The episode is available on anchor.fm and Spotify!