Getting to know Sara S. Ali, M.D., MPH

I was born and raised in Egypt and completed my medical school from Cairo University School of Medicine. After I travelled to California with my husband, I joined Stanford public mental health and population sciences division as a researcher. My research interests include cultural psychiatry, and how history and community systems affect mental health. I completed my adult psychiatry residency from University of New Mexico School of Medicine where I also pursued a Master of Public Health. I followed that by completing a Child and Adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Stanford University.

I like to work with adults and children. For adults, my work focuses on women's mental health, and maternal-fetal health. I also specialize in treating children with expertise in play therapy and working with very young children and their parents. My treatment approach is very individualized focusing on the unique strengths of clients I work with.

I like to use a comprehensive lens to treatment that takes into consideration sociocultural aspects of mental health, family, school, and college systems. My treatment modalities include medications, individual and family therapies, parenting strategies, and non-pharmacological interventions such as lifestyle modifications and building healthy habits.

My professional interests include a variety of psychiatric diagnoses; mood disorders, anxiety, trauma, developmental disabilities, and ADHD. Outside work, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends and enjoy the beauty of the Bay Area.

I speak both English & Arabic.