Suleika Jaouad

Suleika Jaouad is an Emmy Award-winning writer, advocate, motivational speaker and cancer survivor. She is the author of the ‘Life, Interrupted’ column in the New York Times and has also written for Vogue, Glamour, NPR’s All Things Considered and Women’s Health. She is currently working on her first book.

Born in New York City to a Tunisian father and a Swiss mother, Suleika was raised with a global perspective on the world that is reflected in her diverse humanitarian interests. In 2010, Suleika graduated with highest honors from Princeton University where she majored in Near Eastern Studies and double minored in Gender Studies and French. During her time at Princeton, Suleika worked on various human rights campaigns for the Center for Constitutional Rights, Oxfam and the African Union. She studied abroad in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt where she researched and wrote about women’s issues.

Suleika’s career aspirations as a foreign correspondent were cut short when, at age 22, less than a year after graduation, she was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia. After three years of chemotherapy, a life-saving clinical trial and a bone marrow transplant, she is now in remission. She began writing her New York Times column from the bone marrow transplant unit at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and has since become a fierce advocate for those living with cancer and other chronic illnesses.

Suleika’s refreshing, realistic perspective on all things writing, advocacy and health has also made her an in-demand speaker. She travels around the country teaching writing and wellness workshops and she regularly speaks at high schools, universities, hospitals, corporations, fundraisers and professional events. Suleika has been featured on NPR's Talk of The Nation, NBC's Weekend Today Show, CBS News, The Paris Review, The Los Angeles Times and Darling Magazine, among others. Her unique fashion sense has garnered the attention of fashion designers such as Prabal Gurung, who calls Suleika one of his muses.

Suleika lives in New York City with her rescue dog Oscar.