I am a Gates Scholar with a PhD in Computer Sciences from the University of Cambridge in Automatic Affect Inference in Learning Environments. In my current research engineering role at QCRI, I collaborate with the research and software engineering teams to help execute technology transfer, drive product innovation, and explore commercialisation pathways.

This involves evaluating the research assets and capabilities in terms of their technical and commercial feasibility by analyzing their innovative merit, value proposition, market readiness, and usability. Prior to this, I have worked as a Research Scientist at IBM Research with experience in applied machine learning, data analysis, user experience research, experiment design and usability testing. I mainly worked in the areas of Data Quality and Readiness for ML, Automated Decision Optimization, Conversational Tutoring, and Emotion Detection with notable projects being the Data Readiness Report, Data Quality Toolkit, the Medical School Tutor (MST) for LKC School School of Medicine, NTU, Singapore and the Watson Tutor for Pearson Education, USA. 

Keivin Isufaj is a Research Assistant at QCRI, focusing on Machine Learning, Traffic Data Analytics, and Bioinformatics. He holds a Computer Science degree with a Minor in Mathematical Sciences from Carnegie Mellon University. Keivin's experience includes managing and developing frameworks and systems in diverse projects. He has contributed to areas such as traffic trajectory imputation, data visualization, and oral lesion detection. Additionally, Keivin has applied Machine Learning and AI to metabolomic and genomic data to model and predict Coronary Heart Disease and Type 2 Diabetes in Middle Eastern cohorts.

Safa’s research is centered around safe AI, generative models (energy-based models) and reinforcement learning and motivated by applications in computer vision and health intelligence. Safa obtained her PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign working with Prof. Alexander Schwing. She graduated with Bachelor and Master degrees in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology from the Technical University of Munich. She obtained a Master degree in Computer Engineering from Virginia Tech advised by Prof. Sandeep Shukla. She was a visiting scholar at UC-Berkeley, where she worked on her Master thesis under the supervision of Prof. Alberto Sangiovanni Vincentelli and Prof. Andreas Herkersdorf.

Dr. Khouloud Mtibaa is a Laboratory Manager and Research Scientist at the College of Health and Life Sciences at Hamad Bin Khalifa University. Dr. Mtibaa obtained her PhD from Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, France. In 2013, she was valedictorian in her MSc in Exercise Sciences at the Higher Institute of Sports and Physical Education, Tunisia.

She worked at Qatar University as a teaching assistant in the Sports Science Program and the Physical Education Department. She is a certified health and fitness specialist and worked as a health and fitness Coach at Aspire Academy, Qatar.

Muhammad Salman Mustansar Toor is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the College of Health and Life Sciences at Hamad Bin Khalifa University. Dr. Salman M Toor graduated in biomedical sciences with research in cancer biology and therapeutics from the University of Bradford and completed his PhD in tumor immunology from the University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom.

Dr. Toor worked at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University as a research assistant from 2014 to 2017 and joined Qatar Biomedical Research Institute as a research associate in 2017. He joined Dr. Omar Albagha’s group at the College of Health and Life Sciences, Hamad Bin Khalifa University in 2021.

Dr Toor’s research focuses on tumor immunology and his current research focuses on genomic medicine and understanding the genetic determinants of complex diseases with an emphasis on cardiovascular diseases and genetic risks for diabetes. With more than 50 research publications in reputed journals, Dr. Toor aspires to excel in academia and in biomedical research.

Throughout his career at Qatar Biomedical Research Institute, Dr. Alshaban has focused on applying epidemiological methods to investigate and evaluate the burden of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) on Qatari families and other families residing in Qatar. He began studying prevalence rates of ASD and all contributing risk factors associated with the disorder. From this, he and his team established the first ASD registry in Qatar funded by Qatar National Research Fund. The registry’s comprehensive database includes 110 variables regarding demographic, environmental, and clinical data of each diagnosed individual.

His current focus is the development of interdisciplinary research programs to improve early diagnosis, intervention, and treatment of ASD. He is working on the development of innovative screening and diagnostic tools using eye-tracking technology in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic. Moreover, Dr. Alshaban’s work includes translating and validating the Arabic version of the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ), which is a golden standard tool for ASD screening. Additionally, he recently established a commercial partnership with the American company Argus Cognitive Inc. to co-develop the first Arabic digital phenotyping for social communication behaviors as a diagnostic tool for ASD, using machine learning and artificial intelligence to be used in conjunction with ADOS-2 diagnostic tool.

Dr. Lock is a post-doctoral researcher at HBKU, developing several research collaborations, both locally and internationally. She has experience tutoring within the fields of exercise and health science at multiple universities. Dr. Lock’s professional experience specialised in clinical exercise prescription and delivery for older adults, including rehabilitation and reablement, cardiac rehabilitation, and exercise for degenerative neurological conditions.

Alka is a senior administrator at the College of Health & Life Sciences. She has more than 14 years of experience working in HR. She also has extensive experience working as a lecturer of marketing and management, teaching undergraduate students in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Dr. Gabriel Ghinita is an Associate Professor with the ICT Division, College of Science and Engineering, HBKU. Previously, he was a Tenured Associate Professor of Computer Science at UMass Boston, Visiting Professor at University of Southern California; and Research Associate with Purdue Cyber Center and Purdue Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS).

Dr. Recep Şentürk is the Dean of the College of Islamic Studies at HBKU. He was the former Founding President of Ibn Haldun University in Istanbul (2017–2021). Dr. Şentürk holds a PhD from Columbia University’s Department of Sociology, and specializes in Civilization Studies, Sociology, and Islamic Studies with a focus on social networks, human rights, and modernization in the Muslim world. 

He served as a researcher at the Center for Islamic Studies (İSAM) in Istanbul, and as Founding Director of the Alliance of Civilizations Institute. He is Head of the International Ibn Khaldun Society, and has a seat on the editorial boards of multiple academic journals. He is listed among the world’s 500 most influential Muslims in the annual publication The Muslim 500. 

Dr. Şentürk has publications in English, Turkish, and Arabic. His works have been translated into such languages as French, Japanese, Malayalam, Urdu, and Spanish. His publications include Adamiyyah: I Am Therefore I Have Rights and Duties, Semiotics of Nature; Recharging Nature with Meaning for Environmental Ethics and Action, Futuwwah: Noble Character, Malcolm X: The Struggle For Human Rights, Comparative Theories and Methods between Uniplexity and Multiplexity, Narrative Social Structure: Hadith Transmission Network 610-1505,and Modernization and Societal Sciences in the Muslim World.