Dr Hanan Qasem obtained her MSc in Biochemistry from King Saud University, KSA, and completed her PhD in Biological and Biomedical Sciences at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar, in 2025. 

Her doctoral research explored the therapeutic potential of targeting the cancer testis antigen Lactate Dehydrogenase C (LDHC) in triple-negative breast cancer. Her work identified key molecular mechanisms by which LDHC drives tumor progression, immune evasion, and chemoresistance. She validated a novel cell-penetrating peptide-based therapeutic approach to target LDHC in a xenograft zebrafish model, resulting in a significantly reduced tumor burden. Her research has contributed to advancing our understanding of TNBC biology and provides a foundation for novel therapeutic strategies to overcome chemotherapy resistance. 

In 2025, Dr Qasem joined Dr Julie Decock’s team at QBRI as a Postdoctoral Researcher, where she investigates the role and clinical relevance of cancer testis antigens in pediatric oncology. She is passionate about translating fundamental scientific discoveries into clinical applications to improve treatment outcomes for cancer patients.
 

Ola Al-anani is a project analyst at the College of Islamic Studies (CIS), Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU). She coordinates the MA and PhD programs, organizes academic events, and streamlines communications between students, faculty, and university departments. For the MA program, she conducts research activities tied to ongoing research projects and maintains project documentation and timelines. As secretary to the Digital Sīrah Project, her scope centers on internal communications, meeting organization, archive management, and event planning. Her M.Ed. from SUNY Buffalo State strengthens her planning and problem-solving skills. 

Dr. Mustafa Jarrar is a Full professor of Artificial Intelligence and the Director of SinaLab for Computational Linguistics and Artificial Intelligence. He is the founder and former director of the PhD Program in Computer Science at Birzeit University. He was a Fulbright visiting professor at the University at Buffalo in the USA (2016-2017), a Marie Curie fellow at the University of Cyprus (2007-2009), and a senior research scientist at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (1999-2007), where he completed his Masters (2000) and PhD (early 2005). Jarrar has won several prestigious awards, including the Shoman Arab Researchers Award in Technology, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Award for the Arabic Language, and the Google Faculty Research Award. He has published over 100 articles in the areas of Natural Language Processing, Ontology Engineering, the Semantic Web, and Graph Databases. Jarrar has also chaired 30 international conferences, a PC member of 150+ journals and conferences, coordinator/manager of 30 large EU projects, a full member of the IFIP2.6 on Database Semantics, the IFIP2.12 on Web Semantics, and the UN ESCWA Technology Centre Board of Governors, among others.

Dr. Fahad Khan is an academic, researcher, and clinical psychologist specializing in the integration of faith and mental wellness through the field of Islamic psychology. His professional work is dedicated to advancing mental health within Muslim communities. He has served as the deputy director at Khalil Center, the largest provider of Muslim mental health services in the West, where he supervised clinical and research work.

Dr. Khan’s background includes teaching at various academic institutions in the United States. He is a fellow of the International Association of Islamic Psychology (IAIP) and actively contributes to the field by serving on the editorial boards of several peer-reviewed journals. His work has been recognized with multiple awards. He is a recipient of the American Psychological Foundation’s 2025 Division 29 Early Career Award, and the American Psychological Association's (APA) 2021 Early Career Psychologist Champion and 2020 Early Career Achievement Awards. He has served on numerous committees and divisions of the APA, most recently representing the organization at the United Nations in 2024.

Dr. Zhihe Lu is an Assistant Professor at the College of Science and Engineering. His research focuses on machine learning and computer vision. He has published 19 technical papers in leading venues, including CVPR, ICCV, ECCV, NeurIPS, ICML, ACM MM, and top journals such as IEEE TIP and PR.

He was a Research Fellow at the National University of Singapore, working with Prof. Xinchao Wang, before joining HBKU. He finished his PhD at the University of Surrey under the supervision of Prof. Tao Xiang and Prof. Yi-Zhe Song. He also completed his master's degree at the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, supervised by Prof. Ran He and Prof. Zhaoxiang Zhang.

He was also fortunate to work and collaborate with Dr. Xiatian Zhu, Prof. Timothy Hospedales, Dr. Da Li, Dr. Sen He, and Prof. Shuicheng Yan.

Dr. Maryam Saifaldeen is a Research Fellow at the Translational Oncology Research Center at QBRI. With her academic journey supported by the Qatar Research Leadership Program (QRLP), Maryam Saifaldeen earned a BSc in Biological Sciences from the University of Southampton, an MRes in Molecular and Cellular Biosciences from Imperial College of London, and a PhD in Genomics and Precision Medicine from Hamad Bin Khalifa University. This multidisciplinary academic training provided a strong foundation in molecular biology, functional genomics, and biomedical research.

Her doctoral research focused on CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing, leading to the identification of the E3 ubiquitin ligase beta-TrCP1 as a novel regulator of cellular lipid metabolism. Her PhD work contributed to two first-author publications and one co-authored review article.

Dr. Maryam Saifaldeen’s growing research interests lie in understanding how metabolic rewiring of tumor and immune cells influences therapy response, particularly in triple-negative breast cancer. She is committed to contributing to Qatar’s national cancer research efforts by promoting translational science, interdisciplinary collaboration, and innovation-driven discovery.

Dr. Hooman Keshavarzi is the Program Director and Assistant Professor of Islamic Psychology at the College of Islamic Studies. He is a licensed clinical psychologist and holds a Doctorate and Master's in Clinical Psychology and a Bachelor of Science – specialist psychology track/minor in Islamic Studies. He is also a visiting scholar at Ibn Haldun University (Turkey) and an adjunct faculty member at Hartford Seminary.

Dr. Keshavarzi is the founding director of the Khalil Center, the first Islamically-oriented professional community mental wellness center and the largest provider of Muslim mental healthcare in North America. He is also a senior fellow at the International Association for Islamic Psychology (IAIP), conducting research on topics related to Islam, Muslims, and mental health. Dr. Keshavarzi is an international public speaker and trainer providing education on the intersection of Islamic studies and behavioral health.

Dr. Vladimir Katanaev is the Acting Executive Director of Qatar Biomedical Research Institute and the Scientific Director of the Translational Oncology Research Center at the Qatar Biomedical Research Institute. He leads efforts to bridge basic, translational, and clinical research, focusing on developing targeted therapies for cancer patients. He is committed to advancing the understanding of fundamental cellular mechanisms, exploring how their dysfunction contributes to disease, and translating this knowledge into innovative therapeutic strategies. Dr. Katanaev has made significant contributions to the field through his research on signal transduction pathways and their implications in cancer and other diseases. His work has been widely recognized and published in leading scientific journals.

Jouke Jan Hottenga is a Senior Scientist at Qatar Biomedical Research Institute specializing in bioinformatics, gene identification, and population genomics. His work focuses on the genetic factors influencing health behaviors, biomarkers, and metabolic and neurological diseases. He has made significant contributions to genetics, with research published in high-impact journals. His expertise includes genome-wide association studies and meta-analyses.

With strong skills in bioinformatics and big data analysis, he processes and interprets complex genetic data using advanced computational techniques. His work supports genetic research by ensuring accurate and reproducible data analysis. His dedication to understanding genetic mechanisms has established him as a key figure in personalized medicine and public health.

Dr. Hasan Kurban is an Assistant Professor at the College of Science and Engineering. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor of Computer Science and Data Science at Indiana University, Bloomington, USA, and an Editor for Nature Scientific Reports.

Dr. Kurban earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science with a minor in Statistics from Indiana University, Bloomington, USA, in 2017. His research spans artificial intelligence, deep learning, software engineering, graph theory, and large-scale data analytics, with applications in diverse fields, including computational materials science, biology, sports analytics, education, public transportation, finance, and medicine.