Mohammedali Yaseen Taha is a Founding Member and the President of Open Think Tank. He holds a PhD in Comparative Politics from the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon. Dr. Taha is an adjunct faculty at the American University of Kurdistan, College of Arts and Sciences/Department of International Studies and a lecturer at Nawroz University, College of Law and Politics. He is also the vice-president for Administration, finance and student affairs at Nawroz University, a private higher Education University based in Duhok, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Further, Dr. Taha contributes as an associate researcher at the Institute of Social Science (ICS) at the University of Lisbon.
Book Author: Media and Politics in Kurdistan: How Politics and Media are Locked in an Embrace (Rowman and Littlefield-Lexington Books, due out January 2020).
Research Area: Political Communication, Political Trust, Political Parties, Media and Politics
Dr. Nezar Ismet Taib is a medical doctor with a specialization in psychiatry. Nezar was a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the psychosocial education treatment and consulting center-Duhok (PSETC-C) between 2005 and 2006. He is the Head of the Personality Study Bureau for Mental Health Assessment of delinquent children. Since 2008, Nezar Taib has been working part-time for the National Mental Health Consultant to WHO, Iraq office. He has been a lecturer at the College of Medicine and College of Education at the Duhok University. Nezar Taib is also a certified UN counselor in Iraq. He currently is the former Director-General of Health - Duhok Governorate. Nezar Ismet Taib is a Founding Member and Senior Researcher of the Open Think Tank.
Amjad Rasheed is a research fellow for the Open World Research Initiative (OWRI), funded by the AHRC in the School of Government and International Affairs, Durham University. His research interest is in Middle East Politics and Political Islam. His latest published articles are: “The Kurdish Cause in Iraq: From the Second Republic to the Fall of Kirkuk (2003–2018)”, In Iraq After ISIS, Palgrave Macmillan, and “Syria vs. Iraq: Clashes of Authoritarians”, Middle East Policy. He also contributed and co-edited a volume in the Syrian refugee crisis on Jordan and Lebanon. He is writing a co-writing book for Routledge on Political Islam and the regional order in the Middle East.
Yasa Masood Saleem (Chalki) is a young researcher who graduated from the American University of Kurdistan. He has gotten his Bachelor's degree in Security and Strategic Studies from the college of International Studies. During his university years, he served as the Student Ambassador Leader and also President of Student Government in the American university of Kurdistan. He is now the International Relation and Academic Advancement Coordinator at Nawroz University. He is also the head of Panels and Press Conferences in the Duhok International Film Festival. Mr. Saleem has been a lecture assistant at Nawroz University, College of Law and Politics. Yasa started as a student intern in the Open Think Tank and he joined the family of OTT right after his internship. Yasa, at OTT, entered the world of academia and participated in publishing an academic report in January 2021.
Research Interests
