Dr. Mazen Kewara is the Turkey Country Director of the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS). Originally from Damascus, Syria, Dr. Mazen has a medical degree in vascular surgery from the University of Damascus and has worked in the Tishreen Hospital in Damascus. In 2011 when the conflict in Syria began, Dr. Mazen began treating victims of the war in Syria, but had to leave for Turkey with his family in 2012. Dr. Mazen then began working with SAMS, and was the founding staff member of the SAMS Turkey office. As Country Director, Dr. Mazen oversees the growth and expansion of SAMS’s northern Syria programs, including supporting health workers, sponsoring hospitals, providing cross-border medical assistance, training hundreds of doctors and nurses, and advocating for protection of health care workers, full humanitarian access to all besieged areas and the people in need.