Dr Nasser Yassin is the Director of Research at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, and professor of policy and planning at the Health Management and Policy Department at the American University of Beirut (AUB), Lebanon. He co-chairs the AUB4Refugees Initiative that aims to bring together and build synergy among faculty and departments in AUB responding to the Syrian refugee crisis. He holds a PhD from University College London (UCL), an MSc from London School of Economics (LSE), and an MSc and BSc from the American University of Beirut (AUB). His research and practice interests are in development planning and policy-making in fragile states. His work looks at how civil society actors, community groups and informal networks can influence policies as well as development and humanitarian programs. He is currently leading a research project on understanding the informal adaptive mechanisms among refugees and their host communities in the Middle East. He is author of more than 30 internationally published articles and reports.