Alana Friedlander was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to pursue a master’s degree in Emergency and Disaster Management at Tel Aviv University. She received her Bachelor of Arts in psychology with honors from Brown University. Throughout her undergraduate education, Alana contributed to psychology and public health research focused on trauma, maternal mental health, and underserved populations through roles at Women & Infants Hospital, University of Barcelona Faculty of Medicine, and Hadassah Medical Center. During her time at Brown, she was awarded the College Hill Abroad in Israel Fellowship, the Hirschfeld Research Award, the Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award, and the Sprint Link Award.

As an aspiring clinical psychologist, Alana is committed to strengthening trauma care systems, especially for veterans and underserved populations. Through the MDM program, she aims to gain the theoretical foundation and practical skills necessary to address large-scale psychological trauma through a public health framework. The profound psychological toll following the October 7th massacre further reinforced her commitment to understanding how societies respond to and recover from mass trauma.