Improving health care for neurodivergent individuals

Mojdeh Mostafavi, MPH ’26, has seen firsthand the ways the health system is not geared toward helping people like her brother with autism. She aims to change that.

Date: January 7, 2026

Mojdeh Mostafavi’s career goals—to train in both internal medicine and pediatrics, to focus on gastroenterology, and to pursue a master of public health (MPH) degree in clinical effectiveness at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health—are deeply rooted in her experience growing up and caring for a brother on the autism spectrum.

One incident stands out in her mind. Three years ago, Mostafavi’s family rushed her younger brother, 27-year-old Payam, to the emergency room. Payam, who has profound autism, had been engaging in self-injuring behaviors, brought on by severe pain. But the doctors struggled to help him. With limited verbal communication skills, Payam was unable to share information about the location and nature of his pain, and he was extremely agitated in the hospital environment with its unfamiliar sights and sounds.

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