Join us for an engaging and informative webinar on the critical role of reproductive health in refugee populations. Our distinguished speakers—Dr. Heike Thiel de Bocanegra, PhD, MPH, Dr. Ahmad Fahim Pirzada, MD, MPH, and Asiya Yama—will introduce the Refugee Reproductive Health Network (ReproNet) and highlight key resources available to support both service providers and communities.

This session will also explore effective strategies for normalizing conversations about reproductive health in clinical, school, and community settings, empowering attendees to foster open and informed discussions. 

This webinar is designed for healthcare providers, educators, community leaders, advocates, and anyone who directly supports refugee women in their reproductive health journeys.

Date and Time: Wednesday, March 5, 2025, 12:00 - 1:30 pm

Learning objectives

1. Understand why it is important to prioritize reproductive health in the refugee population 

2. Introduce the Refugee Reproductive Health Network (ReproNet) and its resources 

3. Learn how to normalize conversations about reproductive health in the clinic, school, and community setting 

Featured Speakers

Heike Thiel de Bocanegra, PhD, MPH

ReproNet, University of California, Irvine; Principal Investigator, Adjunct Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of California, Irvine

Heike Thiel de Bocanegra, PhD, MPH, is Dorothy J. Marsh Endowed Chair in Reproductive Biology and is Professor at the University of California Irvine, School of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Wen School of Population and Public Health.

She has an MA in psychology from the University of Bielefeld, Germany, Licenciatura en Psicologia of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru, an MPH from UNC-Chapel Hill, and a PhD in International Community Health Education from NYU. She has over 25 years of experience in studying women’s health issues in newcomer and other marginalized populations. Realizing that women’s health is often taking second place in the refugee resettlement experience, she created the Refugee Reproductive Health Network (ReproNet), a campus-community partnership that has reached over 500 newcomers. With an award from the National Library of Medicine, her team has developed and evaluated reproductive health literacy training for Afghan and Middle Eastern refugees in the Greater Sacramento area. In addition to online and in-person training sessions, the team created a digital library of multilingual reproductive health resources in Dari, Pashto, and Arabic and resources for case managers, clinicians, and researchers. 

Ahmad Fahim Pirzada, MD, MPH

ReproNet, University of California, Irvine; Visiting Professor Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine University of California, Davis 

Dr. Pirzada holds a Master’s in Public Health Leadership from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (2024) and a medical degree from the Kabul University of Medical Sciences (2004). At ReproNet, Dr. Pirzada serves as a Subject Matter Expert, developing training materials and reproductive health toolkits designed to enhance refugee women’s health literacy and to foster cultural competency among healthcare providers delivering reproductive health services to refugee populations. Additionally, at UC Davis, he lectures on topics such as refugee trauma, idioms of distress, and cultural competence to medical interns, public health professionals, and psychiatry residents. Dr. Pirzada is also affiliated with the Migration and Health Research Center at Berkeley and is a member of the University of California Davis GLOBE Committee for Refugee Health and the National Library of Health Sciences. Furthermore, he provides consulting on refugee affairs to Afghan community-based organizations in Sacramento, CA. Previously, Dr. Pirzada served as President & CEO of the Veteran, Immigrant, and Refugee Trauma Institute of Sacramento (VIRTIS) from 2014 to 2016, where he led research on mental trauma within refugee communities, particularly Afghan and Iraqi populations. Internationally, Dr. Pirzada held the roles of Vice President and CEO of Tanweer Investments and Tanweer FBMI (Fatema Bint Mohammed Bin Zayed Initiative), Protocol Assistant to the United States Ambassador to Afghanistan, and served as a physician. Dr. Pirzada resides in Sacramento, CA, with his wife and their three children. 

Asiya Yama 

Project Coordinator at ReproNet

Asiya Yama has worked as the Project Coordinator for the Refugee Reproductive Health Network (ReproNet) at the University of California, Irvine, for over four years. In this role, she has co-developed training materials and the curriculum for the Reproductive Health Literacy Training, contributed to the evaluation of both process and outcomes and facilitated multiple in-person and online sessions with refugee women in Sacramento. Ms. Yama holds a Bachelor of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders from California State University, Sacramento, and has two years of experience as a medical assistant at a primary care clinic in Sacramento. She is fluent in Pashto, Dari, Urdu, and English.