Urooj Yazdani holds an M.D. from the Chicago Medical School and an M.Ed. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Education. She is currently a pediatric psychiatry fellow at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.
Her research on the link between systemic poverty and intergenerational trauma became the basis of a feature documentary, titled ‘A Destruction’. The film was created with the support of Johns Hopkins University, the Indus Resource Centre and Kartemquin Films. It was developed by the Tribeca Film Institute and was screened at film festivals around the globe. The film has been contracted for broadcast distribution through Filmoption International, educational distribution through InfoBase Learning and Alexander Street/Proquest Films and is available to stream on Amazon. It has debuted on television networks around the globe as well as classrooms and universities across the country.
Through her unique skill set, Urooj hopes to be an influence on how to make the public invested in complex psychodynamic issues such as psychosocial manifestations of disease in the immigrant community. She aspires to utilize her skills in media literacy, her expertise in storytelling and her passion for advocacy for the betterment of the psychiatric community.