Masad Alfayadh was only 10 when her family uprooted to Australia, fleeing the Iraq War in 2003.
Now in her final year of medicine at Monash University, Ms Alfayadh is focused on improving the lives of Australians.
She is inspired by her parents, who fled Iraq as refugees to give their two daughters a better chance at life.
"My parents were both in the medical field. My mum was a dentist and my dad was a surgeon, so ever since I was very young I saw how big of an impact they had on people’s lives. And that was very inspirational," Ms Alfayadh said.
Last year, Ms Alfayadh completed a project looking at the safety of vaccinations in children with chronic arthritis.
Her supervisor, infectious-diseases physician Professor Jim Buttery, says he was impressed by her work.
"There's been a concern that vaccinations might actually trigger a flare after the vaccination, and Masad was able to demonstrate that, in this very high-risk population who often have low immune systems, due to either their disease or their medicine, that vaccinations are very safe," he said.
However, it's not just in the hospital wards where Ms Alfayadh is hoping to have an impact.
Ms Alfayadh started her Happy Brain Education tutoring program a year ago to raise much-needed funds for a child's heart surgery.
From there, it blossomed into something larger, and the program now helps empower young people from migrant and disadvantaged backgrounds to make a difference.
Masad Alfayadh conducting one of her Happy Brain classes outdoors. Source: Happy Brain Education website
"We do mentoring, tutoring and general support for young people to try to support them as much as we can to become world-changers themselves and to use their strengths and their passions to make the world a better place."
About 400 students between ages 15 and 20 are involved in three branches of the program across Melbourne.
Dilara Ilhan, a 17-year-old, is one of them.
"I've become more confident, that's for sure, because I'm not afraid to express my opinion. Everyone in the class is lovely. Masad's lovely, all the tutors are lovely, and I think it really helps students in being able to express their opinions comfortably."
Ms Alfayadh's managed to secure a $50,000 Westpac social-change fellowship, allowing her to expand her Happy Brain Education program.
