Pioneering Social Prescribing in the UAE
SPAN UAE (Social Prescribing Alliance Network UAE) is a growing network bringing together clinicians, researchers, policymakers and community leaders to advance social prescribing and community-centred healthcare across the United Arab Emirates. We work to connect people with non-medical sources of support that improve health, wellbeing and social connection. Through collaboration with local and international partners, SPAN UAE champions evidence-based, person-centred approaches to care.
Leadership & Network
Operational Leadership Team
Co-Founder & CEO
​Shreehari is the Founder and Chair of Students for Social Prescribing (S4SP). Driven by his research into chronic disease and public health, he leads SPAN in integrating non-medical interventions into traditional clinical care to treat patients as whole people.
Co-founder and Head of Operations and Bussiness Development
​As Co-Chair of S4SP, Arthur focuses on the strategic expansion of social prescribing networks. He works alongside global health leaders to bridge the gap between community support and clinical practice, ensuring sustainable healthcare innovation across the region.
Network and Advisors
Senior Advisor – Positive Psychology & Mental Health
Dr. Louise Lambert is a psychologist and researcher specializing in positive psychology and wellbeing, based in Dubai for more than two decades. She works across the Gulf region helping organizations and communities strengthen wellbeing, resilience, and social connection. Her work focuses on translating psychological research into practical strategies that improve everyday life and support healthier societies.
Senior public health advisor
Dr. Narges Sheikhansari is a public health executive with over a decade of experience in various global health affairs. While her main area of focus is developing policies and implementing strategies for healthcare transformation, her expertise spans population health and longevity, research, impactful health and social behavior change, and digital health and innovation. Dr. Sheikhansari has successfully led significant public health programs, influencing policy at national and international levels. In addition to her leading role within the public sector, she is an acknowledged advisor and subject matter expert to a number of international VCs, think tanks, startups and executive boards.
​Senior Advisor – Community Mental Health & Public Health
Dr. Mentalla Elmadany is a physician with a multidisciplinary background in healthcare delivery, public health, mental wellbeing, and digital health innovation. She holds a Master of Science in Healthcare Delivery from Arizona State University and has interests spanning integrated care models, community wellbeing, women’s health, preventive medicine, and healthcare strategy.
Her work focuses on bridging clinical care with public health, mental health advocacy, lifestyle medicine, and patient-centered healthcare transformation. Dr. Elmadany is passionate about advancing holistic and socially integrated approaches to health that improve quality of life and long-term wellbeing outcomes.
She is also involved in mentorship, public speaking, and healthcare innovation initiatives across the UAE and the wider region.
Advisor – Medical Education & Training
​Dr. Khalil is a double board-certified internal medicine physician and clinical informaticist with active clinical practices in the US and the UAE. In addition to advising health tech and primary care organizations, he currently serves as the founder of Clinicly Direct Primary Care, Dubai's first direct primary care clinic.
Advisor- Health Analytics
​Dr. Daniel Sandoval is a specialist in Business Intelligence, healthcare analytics, and data management with over 15 years of experience across the healthcare sector. With a background in Systems Engineering, a Master’s degree in Computer Science, and ongoing PhD research in Computer Science, his work focuses on transforming complex datasets into actionable insights through advanced analytics, predictive modeling, KPI systems, and cloud-based data infrastructure. As Director of Data Management and Population Health Data Manager, he has led large-scale healthcare data initiatives that support informed decision-making and stronger health systems.
Senior Advisor for Clinical Operations & Population Health
Melissa O’Donnell, MS is a Behavior Analyst and Clinical Operations and Population Health Advisor with over 15 years of experience across behavioral health and integrated care systems in the GCC.
She has held leadership roles across clinical governance and operations in inpatient, outpatient, and community settings, with a focus on population health and the design and delivery of community-based programs. Her work centers on translating clinical standards, regulatory frameworks, and policy into scalable, high-performing service models with measurable social impact.
Melissa has worked in advisory roles with healthcare organizations, government authorities, and academic institutions across the region. She holds multiple licenses and certifications in behavior analysis and has contributed to research and publications in behavioral health.
Advisor- Advisor in Mental Health & Inclusion
Haleema Khatoon is a clinical psychologist, therapist, and KHDA-approved inclusion specialist based in Dubai. Drawing on her experience supporting children of determination and their families in educational and community settings, she integrates clinical practice with social prescribing approaches, recognising the importance of social connection, family engagement, and community-based support in improving mental health outcomes. She is particularly interested in translating research into practical, community-based interventions, with a focus on understanding how social and environmental factors influence wellbeing
Senior clinical advisor
A Public Health Consultant and specialist in Preventive Medicine, Dr. El-Azam leads clinical strategy for SPAN. With extensive experience in the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP), he focuses on designing sustainable, community-based health frameworks that bridge the gap between policy and practice.
Mental Health & Workplace Wellbeing Advisor
Misha Akbar is a mental health entrepreneur and former HR business partner based between San Francisco and Dubai. Drawing on 16 years of experience as an HRBP at Silicon Valley SaaS companies, she founded Sama Health, a platform bringing culturally relevant, pay-per-session mental health support to South Asian communities across the Gulf, with an initial focus on the UAE. She holds an MSc in neuroscience and psychology of mental health from King's College London, and her work focuses on closing the gap between the mental health support available to South Asian communities, especially within workplaces, and how often people actually use it. She is particularly interested in how cultural stigma and generational patterns shape that gap, and in building practical, employer-based pathways that make professional support easier to access.
Senior Advisor
A global leader in healthcare, Dr. Bogdan is an Honorary Lecturer at UCL and Head of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Social Prescribing. Named one of the UK’s "Top 100 Most Influential People in Health," he advises international governments on shifting medicine toward holistic, community-led solutions.
​Advisor, Physical Activity & Community Wellbeing
Mark Guildea is a public health and physical activity strategist, currently serving as Managing Director of Interact, a UAE-based social impact agency focused on healthier and more active communities through behavioural science, education, sport, and technology. With experience across elite sport, academia, and government, he has led major health and wellbeing initiatives across the UAE in collaboration with organisations including Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre, ADEK, and the Department of Community Development.
His work focuses on physical activity, community wellbeing, and sustainable behaviour change through data-driven and community-based approaches. He is also a published author and speaker on public health, behavioural design, and health innovation.
Advisory IN Ethics, Governance and Responsible Innovation
​Elizabeth Pearson is Managing Director of Forgechemy and an AI adoption, organisational behaviour and transformation specialist based in the UAE. Her work focuses on responsible innovation, ethical decision-making, governance, culture and the human conditions needed for sustainable change. She brings senior experience in AI transformation, organisational adoption and stakeholder engagement, helping leaders translate complex change into practical, human-centred action. As SPAN’s Advisory Board Member for Ethics, Governance and Responsible Innovation, Elizabeth supports the development of social prescribing awareness, education and collaboration in the UAE, with particular attention to trust, accountability, systems change and long-term societal impact.
Commercial Strategy & Health Innovation Advisor
Seán Robertson is a UAE-based commercial strategist with 14 years of experience across pharma, digital health, and clinical science in the GCC and beyond. He bridges policy and practice — translating complex health priorities into market-ready strategies for executives managing multi-billion-dollar portfolios. Sean has consulted for 15 leading pharmaceutical companies on strategy and transformation, and advised senior leaders across five continents. His work with Toronto's Baycrest Hospital scaled world-leading brain health science to tens of thousands — grounding his current focus on dementia prevention, cognitive health, and precision medicine in the UAE. He operates at the intersection of science, commercial leadership, and health system design.
COmmunity health Senior Advisor
Dr. Fatima Abdul Kalam is a Dubai-based public health physician with
an MBBS from AIIMS Raipur, MD in Community Medicine from the All
India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata, and a Diploma in
Community Mental Health from NIMHANS. She has experience in
clinical assessment, preventive healthcare, disease surveillance, health
education, behavioural counselling, and community-based research. Her
expertise includes communicable and non-communicable disease
prevention, patient engagement, and evidence-based health
interventions. With interests in mental health, womens health, and
population health, she is committed to advancing holistic, equitable, and
community-centered healthcare.