Layla Al Neyadi is a PhD student at New York University’s Silver School of Social Work. Her research interests focus on the intersection between mental health and public policy, with an emphasis on identifying how policies may foster mental health and well-being, and investigating the sociocultural determinants of health that may exacerbate, or protect against, the development of mental illness. Layla is working towards conducting research that would contribute towards foundational mental health research in the UAE, with a current focus on understanding how Emirati women cope with changing sociocultural influences that have accompanied the rapid social and economic development that has been witnessed in the UAE. Layla was a member of NYU Abu Dhabi’s inaugural class, where she studied Psychology. She also holds an MPH with a concentration in Public Health Policy and Management from NYU’s School of Global Public Health. Currently, she is working on programming and research efforts at the Center on Violence and Recovery in New York, which uses a restorative justice approach to respond to violence and trauma in communities, with a focus on domestic violence.