Shazia Siddiqi

Emilio Ferreiro 16.5.26
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Shazia Siddiqi is a Deaf Pakistani-American physician, public health researcher, and human rights advocate. She currently serves as a Staff Scientist in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC). Siddiqi is widely known for her extensive work in Deaf health equity, global health disparities, trauma-informed care, and reproductive justice.

Quick Facts

Early Life and Education

Siddiqi was born in Texas and raised in California as the eldest child of first-generation Pakistani immigrants who moved to the United States in the 1970s. Born into a hearing family, her profound deafness was identified at three and a half years old. She grew up utilizing American Sign Language (ASL) and was educated in mainstreamed school programs that incorporated specialized Deaf classrooms[1].

Siddiqi attended the University of California, Berkeley on a full Regents' Scholarship, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Molecular and Cell Biology[1][2]. During her undergraduate years, she was also highly active in South Asian American cultural awareness groups[1]. She subsequently earned a Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) from Dartmouth College[2][3]. To fulfill her dream of becoming a physician, she attended St. George’s University School of Medicine, where she successfully navigated the rigorous medical curriculum through adaptive strategies and earned her Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree[1].

Professional Career and Advocacy

Before transitioning fully into academic research, Siddiqi spent years working in community health education and civil rights advocacy. She worked as a community health educator and outreach specialist for the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program at the Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness (GLAD)[1][2]. She later relocated to Washington, D.C., where she taught Biology and Medical Terminology part-time at Gallaudet University[1][2].

From her deep commitment to intersectional social justice, Siddiqi served as the Executive Director of DAWN (formerly known as the Deaf Abused Women’s Network) in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area[2]. Under her leadership, the non-profit organization provided vital advocacy services, crisis support, and community education for Deaf and hard-of-hearing survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking[2][3].

Academic Research and Contributions

From 2018 to 2021, Siddiqi was a postdoctoral fellow under the Rochester Partnership for Biomedical Research and Academic Career Training of Deaf Postdoctoral Scholars (RPP) at URMC. Under the mentorship of Dr. Eva Pressman and Dr. Timothy Dye, she spearheaded community-based participatory research with Deaf populations across the globe. Following her fellowship, she joined URMC’s Dye Lab as a Staff Scientist[4].

Her primary research contributions include Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), Global Deaf Health Access, and Public Health and Vaccinations. Siddiqi serves on the Executive Committee as the Immediate Past President of the Association of Medical Professionals with Hearing Losses (AMPHL), where she supports the training and mentoring of deaf and hard-of-hearing students entering healthcare and scientific careers[2]. She is also a core team member of the Global Deaf Research Institute (GDRI), a deaf-led non-profit collaborative working to standardize global health needs-assessments for signing populations.

  1. Mehta, S. D. (2013, July 16). Deaf South Asian Americans: Shazia’s Story. Sarika D. Mehta / South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA). https://sarikadmehta.com/2013/07/16/deaf-south-asian-americans-shazias-story/
  2. Association of Medical Professionals with Hearing Losses. (n.d.). Executive Committee: Dr. Shazia Siddiqi. AMPHL. https://www.amphl.org/executives
  3. Siddiqi, S. (2017, December 4). Shazia Siddiqi | Executive Director of non-profit organization, Deaf Abused Women's Network (DAWN). World Bank Blogs. https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/team/s/shazia-siddiqi
  4. URMC Academic Research Careers for Deaf Scholars. (n.d.). Program Alumni: Shazia Siddiqi, M.D., M.P.H. Rochester Partnership for Biomedical Research. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/academic-research-careers-deaf-scholars/program-alumni
Emilio Ferreiro

Posted by Emilio Ferreiro

E-learning Specialist | PhD student in Health Sciences | Deaf activist | Independent Blogger at Unusualverse

 
       

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