Dr. Badran is a postdoctoral fellow at the Mental Health and Social Welfare Research Group at UC Berkeley under the supervision of Prof. Steven P Segal. Her research interests include disabilities in minority populations, with focus on mental health, intersections of vulnerable identities, rights (marriage and child custody) for people with disabilities, parenting and disability, mental health literacy, attitudes, community treatment orders (CTOs), protecting the physical health of people with severe mental illness (SMI).
She was awarded the prestigious Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue her research project titled “Protecting the Health of People with SMI: The Role of Outpatient Commitment” at University of California Berkeley. The proposed project aims to decide on the best service approach to help people with SMI to improve their physical health and reduce their vulnerability to life-threatening conditions resulting from physical health problems. Currently, she is working on a mixed methods research based on a health model informed by the Theory of Planned Behavior combined with the Ecological Theory, focusing on transcultural psychiatry and the underutilization of mental health services among Muslims in both Israel and the US.
She is a recipient of various prestigious fellowships like The Council of Higher Education for “Outstanding Postdoctoral Arab Abroad” and Ora Gilbar award for “Outstanding PhD Proposal”. Leena holds a B.A. in Social Work from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem with distinction, and M.A. & Ph.D with distinction from University of Haifa.
