Associate Professor
Fordham University
Sameena Azhar is an Associate Professor at the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service. She has nearly two decades of clinical and research experience in the fields of mental health, addiction and HIV treatment. Sameena completed a PhD from the University of Chicago, a Master’s in Social Work and a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA in Philosophy from UC Berkeley. She is a licensed clinical social worker in the states of California, Illinois and Pennsylvania. She has previously worked as a Behavioral Intervention Trainer for the STD Control Branch of the California Department of Public Health and as a Clinical Social Worker for Ward 86, the HIV clinic at San Francisco General Hospital. Her research has been funded through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the U.S. Department of Education, Ford Foundation, the American Institute of Pakistan Studies (AIPS), and the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA). Sameena is the recipient of the 2024 Best Manuscript Award for the Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Social Work, the 2021 Affilia Award for Distinguished Feminist Scholarship and Praxis in Social Work, and the 2018 Society for Social Work and Research Doctoral Fellows Award. She is currently working on two major research studies: (1) gender-based violence against khwaja sira (third gender people) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan and (2) food insecurity in the South Bronx. Sameena recently moved to Philly where she plays jazz piano and grows orchids.
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Friday, October 24, 2025
10:30 AM - 11:30 AM MT