Dr. Al-Hareth M. Al-Khater is a Senior Consultant Physician and the Deputy Medical Director for Clinical Affairs, National Center for Cancer Care and Research (NCCCR).

Dr. Al-Khater was granted a Qatari national medical scholarship and obtained his medical degree at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. He then joined Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Doha, Qatar, where he did his internship and internal medicine residency training before obtaining a national medical sub-specialty scholarship. He completed his internal medicine residency, hematology, and medical oncology fellowship training at the University of Missouri-Columbia, working at the University Hospital, the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans’ Hospital and Ellis Fischel Cancer Center. He has obtained the American Board certification in internal medicine, hematology, and medical oncology.

Dr. Al-Khater is currently a Senior Consultant Medical Oncologist, Deputy Medical Director for Clinical Affairs at the NCCCR, and Chair of the Healthcare Ethics Committee at HMC, Doha, Qatar. He is also a Medical Advisor for the National Cancer Program in the Ministry of Public Health, Qatar, and he represents the State of Qatar as a member of the Governing Council for the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon, France. He has participated in many institutional, national, and international committees including being a member of the Qatar National Research Ethics Committee, member of the Qatar State Awards Trustees' Committee, member of the Executive Committee for the Board of Regents of Qatar University, member of the Advisory Committee for the Gulf Center for Cancer Control and Prevention, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and a member of the Scientific Council for the IARC. His main interests are urological cancers and healthcare ethics at the end of life.

Dr. Javaid I. Sheikh is the Dean and CEO of Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCMQ). He is an internationally renowned medical executive and creative thought leader in global academic medicine. Since beginning his tenure in 2010, Dr. Sheikh has pioneered several innovative biomedical research and education programs, enabling Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar to become widely acknowledged as a leading institution preparing global physician-scientists for the 21st century.

Dr. Sheikh has led the establishment of a truly world-class research infrastructure at WCM-Q, equipped with core laboratories with advanced capabilities in genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics, amongst others. These laboratories allow the institution to perform deep molecular phenotyping of the population, as well as apply personalized medicine approaches to cancer, diabetes, and other complex diseases. Discoveries based on cutting-edge research being done at WCMQ have paved the way for better diagnosis and more effective therapeutic interventions for cancer, diabetes, and many other complex illnesses.

Since 2012, Dr. Sheikh has led the conceptualization and implementation of comprehensive population health programs to advance health promotion and disease prevention for the Qatari population, beginning with “Sahtak Awalan” for school-age children. In early 2025, Dr. Sheikh launched a comprehensive Women’s Health program “Sehatuha,” that has galvanized both the community and the medical establishment to focus on this often neglected domain.  Working closely with the Ministry of Population Health, Dr. Sheikh is transforming the health and wellness of the whole Qatari population, and getting them to actively participate in creating healthier lifespans and striving for peak functioning.

Dr. Sheikh has recently established the Artificial Intelligence Center for Precision Health at WCMQ, which is exploring the potential of artificial intelligence and wearable technologies for the early detection and prediction of diabetes, autism, anxiety/depression, and women’s health issues, such as gestational diabetes and postpartum depression. Broader aims of the Center are to mitigate health risks, enhance early intervention, and improve patient outcomes, ultimately driving proactive, personalized, and preventive care.

Before joining Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar, Dr. Sheikh built a distinguished career at Stanford University School of Medicine in California. He was a tenured professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, associate dean for veterans’ affairs, and was board chair of the Palo Alto Institute for Research and Education. He is a professor emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford.

Kimberly is a dedicated management professional with more than 25 years of international business experience across several sectors including finance, investment, education, research and foundation. She has worked for large international entities including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, the New York Federal Reserve Bank, Qatar Foundation, and Weber Shandwick. She is a specialist in strategic communication with expertise in external and internal corporate communication, media relations, events management as well as strategic and business planning and financial reporting.

Currently based in France, Kimberly is a PR and communication specialist working with global investment management firms, financial institutions, exchanges, and insurance companies. She moved to France from Dubai where she was with Weber Shandwick’s financial services practice. Before joining Weber Shandwick, Kimberly worked as Communication Director and Strategic Planning and Performance Manager with Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI), a member of Qatar Foundation, where she developed and implemented a comprehensive integrated communication and marketing strategy and developed business plans for the institute’s long-term strategy.

Prior to QCRI, Kimberly was Vice President at BLJ Worldwide in Doha, Qatar where she was the lead specialist responsible for developing PR and communication strategies for several major clients in Qatar, including Qatar Foundation. Kimberly’s career started in the global financial services industry. Based in both New York and Hong Kong, she held senior management positions in Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, where she was Operations and Business Officer and Client Relationship Manager for the investment research and equity divisions. Kimberly graduated from Wittenberg University in Ohio with a degree in Business Administration and a focus on operations management and economics. She is bilingual in English and French.

Dr. Ruffolo is currently the Chairman of Aragen Biosciences, Inc. and Managing Director of Ruffolo Consulting, LLC, a consulting company for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He is the retired President of Research and Development for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, and Corporate Senior Vice President of the Wyeth Corporation (now Pfizer). In that role, he managed an R&D organization of 9,000 scientists with an annual budget in excess of $5 billion. Prior to joining Wyeth, Dr. Ruffolo was Senior Vice President and Director of Drug Discovery Research Worldwide at SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals (now GlaxoSmithKline) where he was responsible for approximately 1,700 scientists with an annual budget in excess of $1.2 billion. Prior to that, he was Chairman of the Cardiovascular Research Committee at Eli Lilly and Company.

During his career in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Ruffolo played a significant role in the discovery and development of a number of products that are marketed globally, including carvedilol (Coreg®, Dilatrend®, Kredex®, Dimitone®, Eucardia® and Cardiol®) for the treatment of congestive heart failure, ropinirole (Requip®) for Parkinson's disease, dobutamine (Dobutrex®) for the management of acute congestive heart failure and eprosartan (Teveten®) for hypertension. In addition, the research and development groups that Dr. Ruffolo supervised during his career brought 32 new medicines to the market.

Dr. Ruffolo has authored over 500 full-length publications and more than 200 abstracts, and he has edited 15 books. He was the Editor-in-Chief of four international pharmacology journals. He has received many honors throughout his career. Recently, the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) elected Dr. Ruffolo as a Fellow of ASPET (FASPET), which is an honor bestowed only on its most distinguished members. In addition, ASPET established an annual award in Dr. Ruffolo’s name, the Robert R. Ruffolo Career Achievement in Pharmacology Award (Medal), to honor the contributions made by Dr. Ruffolo to biomedical research and to drug discovery and development. This Award is presented annually to the most prestigious scientists in the world at the height of their careers.

Dr. Ruffolo received two Lifetime Achievement Awards and two Honorary Doctorates. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) awarded its most prestigious award, the Discoverer’s Award, to Dr. Ruffolo for the discovery of carvedilol (Coreg®) for the treatment of congestive heart failure. Carvedilol has saved the lives of tens of millions of patients around the world who suffer from this devastating disease. The American Society for Information Science and Technology designated Dr. Ruffolo as a Highly Cited Scientist for being among the top 100 most-cited pharmacologists in the world for over two decades.

Dr. Ayman Samara joined Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) Core Labs in 2015 as a Senior Scientist to help establish the optical microscopy lab, profilometry lab, thermal analysis lab, and thin film characterization. Dr. Samara is currently leading all analysis activities and manages the operations of these labs, supporting research at HBKU, local and global companies and educational institutes in Qatar. He obtained his MSc and PhD degrees in Optical Engineering and Science from the Center for Optoelectronics and Optical Communications at the University of North Carolina – Charlotte, and his BSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of Jordan. Dr. Samara started his career in the semiconductor industry in 2005 at Intel Corporation’s D1D Fab in Portland, OR, USA, as a Senior Process Development Engineer leading the development of metrology and defect detection capabilities for the Lithography process supporting manufacturing of the 65-32nm technology nodes. In 2009, Dr. Samara served as the Manager of the Dimensional Metrology and Defect Analysis facility in the assembly materials characterization division of Intel Corporation. Prior to Joining HBKU, Dr. Samara served as an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at the American University of the Middle East in Kuwait, where he established the Optics Engineering lab and taught multiple EE courses.
 

Dr. Karthik Somasundaram joined Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) in July 2022 as a Scientist at the Energy Center. He has nine years of experience in energy storage research especially in the field of Li-ion battery since his PhD. Dr. Karthik received his PhD from National University of Singapore (NUS) in November 2012. His research focused on modeling of transport phenomena in Li-ion batteries and supercapacitors. After his PhD, he spent several years in Singapore working on several research projects at NUS, NTU-Rolls Royce Electrical focusing on multi-scale, multi-physics modeling of

Li-ion batteries related to performance, safety and durability. He also worked as a Li-S cell modeler for Oxis Energy in UK on a joint research project with Imperial College, London and Cranfield University. 

Before joining QEERI, Dr. Karthik worked as a Senior Engineer at Caterpillar India in the Advanced Power Products division focusing on development, parameterization, and utilization of mechanistic and empirical models for Li-ion battery cells to predict performance and aging under various operating conditions.

Prior to that, he worked for Renault-Nissan Technology Center in India focusing on optimizing battery cell designs using electrochemical-thermal models, developing machine learning models for process automation and shortlisting of materials. 

Abdulaziz Al-Emadi is a Research Assistant with Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Doha, Qatar. He had preciously worked in Qatar Petroleum and RasGas companies as an Instruments Technician, following which he joined QEERI as a Lab Technician. Upon completion of his degree, he assumed the role of Research Assistant at QEERI. 

Eng. Radee Dami Alrewaily is a Research Engineer with the Water Center at Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) in Doha, Qatar. Previously, he worked at Qatar Petroleum (now Qatar Energy) in the gas production sector as an operator. He received his bachelor degree of Mechanical Engineering from the University of South Wales, UK, following which he started working in Qatar Foundation from 2008. His current work projects include: - MED thermal desalination plant design and operation; - oil/water separation technology development for oil spill cleanup and produced water treatment; - AC condensate water recycling and reuse.

Usman Zafar is a Research Associate with the Energy Management Group at Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) in Doha, Qatar. He is a certified Google Cloud Architect and also a certified Cloudera & GCP certified Data Engineer with broad experience in Machine learning, Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Speech (Speaker Diarization) as demonstrated by his coursework experience and multiple publications in leading journals/conferences.  He is also well versed in modern neural architectures and adept in techniques that make use of pre-trained models such as transfer learning that are essential for companies with small datasets. While he has worked a lot in machine learning, he believes it would have been impossible to train huge datasets without the required data engineering skills, which he attained through practical work on Hadoop, Spark and Google Cloud, and by completing relevant Google Cloud and Cloudera certifications. Mr. Zafar has worked on technologies such as BigQuery, Dataflow, Dataproc, Spark etc. and has the skillset to handle data of any size. As an organized, detail-oriented person with strong communication skills, he believes one of his primary strengths is his ability to learn new technologies quickly and effectively. At QEERI, he works on designing software systems for IOT use-cases, machine learning for energy disaggregation and forecasting energy demand and optimization of locations for maximum demand where demand can be defined by the end-user. Prior to working at QEERI, he has worked at many other places including Schneider Electric and Texas A&M University. 

Dr. Anwar is a Scientist at Qatar Energy and Environment Research Institute (QEERI). He has more than 15 years of R&D experience in catalysis science, organic synthesis, and synthetic methodology development both in industry and academia. He received his DPhil in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from Dyson Perrins Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, under Professor Mark Moloney. Later he worked with Professor Sir Jack Baldwin FRS at University of Oxford on various industrial projects related to catalytic methodology development, synthesis of bioactive compounds for pharmaceuticals, biomimetic and total synthesis, reaction cascade catalysis, retrosynthetic analysis. He has huge industrial research experience working for Roche (F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd.), Pfizer UK), Galapagos (France), and Tocris Bioscience. His research expertise spans topics in Catalysis Science, Target & Diversity Oriented Synthesis, Asymmetric Catalysis, CO2 valorization, Molecular Building Block Design, Reaction Scale-Up, Retrosynthetic Methodologies, Total Synthesis, Reaction Engineering, Drug Discovery, Pharmaceutical Science, Polymerization Chemistry, Circular Chemical Economy, and Fine Chemical Industry. He is also an active member of Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), Society of Chemical Industry (CSI) and American Chemical Society (ACS).