Date: Thursday, September 3, 2026
Time: 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location: Virtual
The KAUST Policy Institute invites you to a timely discussion with Professor Anita Chandra, RAND distinguished chair in American social policy, senior principal policy researcher, and professor of policy analysis.
Professor Chandra works with partners across sectors to develop solutions that strengthen community well-being, emergency response and recovery, and systems for measuring civic and social change. She leads pioneering work at RAND on collective well-being and social connection, and serves on several prominent scientific, policy, and community advisory boards. She will present a talk titled “The Power of Linking Health, Prosperity and Wellbeing: Measurement and Systems Change.”
Professor Fadia AlBuhairan, professor of pediatrics and adolescent medicine, director general for national health economics and policy at the Saudi Health Council, and general director of the National Center for Developmental Disorders, will join the session as discussant. Professor AlBuhairan brings more than 25 years of experience in health systems transformation, clinical care, public health, research, and academia, with particular expertise in adolescent health and national health policy.
The session will examine the vital connections between health, social connection, human flourishing, and economic resilience. Moving beyond traditional health indicators, it will consider growing concerns about isolation, loneliness, social disconnection, and declining quality of life. It will also explore how health and municipal systems can be redesigned around broader concepts of individual and collective well-being.
Professors Chandra and AlBuhairan will offer practical insights into how these ideas apply in Saudi Arabia amid ongoing discussions about human potential and long-term social and economic prosperity. The session will consider Saudi Arabia’s position on global measures of flourishing, the impact of social connection on youth in the Kingdom, and the role of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies in shaping the future of human development.
Bringing together KAUST researchers, faculty, and the wider policy community with leading experts from around the world, the Policy Institute Speaker Series supports thoughtful dialogue on how science, technology, and research can better inform public policy decision-making in Saudi Arabia and beyond.
The Policy Institute at KAUST would greatly value your participation in this discussion and hopes you will be able to join.
The Policy Institute at KAUST