Omar Al Rais, MBA, MBChB, D Pharmacology, is the Interim President and CEO at Project Access NOW, previously serving as Vice President of Operations. Before joining the organization, Omar served as the Director of Affiliate Quality and Compliance at Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon where he led affiliate risk, quality, compliance, and patient experience efforts. Omar has a deep and varied background in medical care, policy, and quality improvement, including most recently earning an MBA in Healthcare Management from Oregon Health & Science University and Portland State University in 2019.
Previously, Omar practiced as a medical doctor in Iraq and Jordan as a resident in Otolaryngology. Subsequently, he earned a degree in Molecular Pharmacology, where his research focused on the correlation between alterations in DNA damage and repair genes and patient responses to chemotherapy.
Demonstrating his commitment to mission-driven community service, his experience includes performance improvement with Planned Parenthood, equity outreach at Cascade AIDS Project, board president-elect of HIV Alliance (Eugene), Oregon community board member of Comagine Health, member of the OHSU Health Equity Community Core Team, and volunteer trainer for Arabic-speaking community health workers (Multnomah County).
Omar is committed to eliminating health disparities. He is utilizing his past medical experience to help underserved and at-risk populations to overcome barriers in accessing equitable health care.
