Dr. Taniya M. Samuel was awarded her PhD in Biological Science from the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), India, with her doctoral research conducted at CSIR–National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. She holds a Master’s degree in General Biotechnology and a Bachelor’s degree in Botany.

With over six years of research experience, Dr. Taniya’s expertise spans translational cancer biology, inflammation, and bioactive-driven therapeutics. Her doctoral research centered on the in vitro evaluation of the anti-breast cancer and anti-inflammatory properties of bioactive compounds and peptides derived from quinoa and amaranth. She is proficient in apoptosis assays, cell migration, immunoblotting, immunofluorescence, cytokine profiling, oxidative stress assays, and transcriptomic/proteomic analyses, including RNA isolation, NGS workflows, PPI networks, and pathway analysis.

Dr. Taniya joined Dr. Fares Al-Ejeh’s research team at the Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI) as a Research Assistant, where she is currently involved in personalised/precision oncology research with a focus on multi-omics, novel biomarker and drug target discovery, and breast cancer.

Dr. Myoung-Hyoun Song is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI), Hamad Bin Khalifa University. He obtained his Ph.D. in Medical Science through an integrated M.S.–Ph.D. program from the College of Medicine, Seoul National University, South Korea, in August 2025. Since 2016, he has conducted extensive research on the establishment, long-term culture, and characterization of human organoid models, which formed the foundation of his doctoral work. His research focused on integrative genomic and transcriptomic analyses, primarily whole-exome sequencing (WES) and bulk RNA sequencing, using advanced organoid-based disease models to investigate intra-tumor heterogeneity, host–microbiome interactions, and disease-associated molecular signatures.

Dr. Song has hands-on experience directing the differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into vascular lineages, as well as generating intestinal organoids for functional and translational studies. He also has substantial experience with high-throughput screening (HTS) platforms combined with image-based quantitative analysis to assess cellular phenotypes and drug responses, with an emphasis on reproducible and scalable analytical workflows. Building on his expertise in multi-omics integration, organoid biology, stem cell–derived model systems, and image-based phenotyping, he is expanding his research interests toward the brain-gut axis.

At QBRI, he aims to integrate patient-specific iPSC-derived neuronal cell models with omics- and imaging-driven approaches to study neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and to advance biomarker discovery and precision disease modeling through interdisciplinary collaboration.

Louis Chen is a postdoctoral researcher whose work lies at the intersection of quantum artificial intelligence and distributed quantum computing. His research focuses on algorithm-level frameworks for scalable quantum computation, including distributed quantum algorithms, heterogeneous quantum architectures, and fault-tolerant strategies tailored to networked quantum systems.
He received both his MSc and PhD from Imperial College London. His doctoral research spanned device-level quantum information processing and system-level design, providing a strong foundation for bridging quantum hardware constraints with advanced algorithmic and AI-driven methods.
Louis’s current research investigates how distributed quantum systems and quantum-AI models can be leveraged to address large-scale, real-world problems in optimization, machine learning, and quantum materials simulation. A particular focus is placed on distributed quantum error-correction codes, resource-aware fault-tolerant protocols, and learning-assisted quantum control for emerging quantum networks.
He has authored over 40 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals, including Physical Review Applied, Machine Learning: Science and Technology, Advanced Quantum Technologies, Materials for Quantum Technology, and Optics Express. His work has been recognized with the 2025 IEEE Quantum Technical Community Distinguished QCE Technical Paper Award and the IEEE QCE 2025 Best Paper Awards in both the Photonic Track and Quantum Application Track.
 

Professor Yasir Suleiman-Malley has vast academic leadership experience in the UK and the Arab World. He is Emeritus Professor of Modern Arabic Studies at the University of Cambridge, formerly His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said chair of Contemporary Arabic Studies at the University of Cambridge, and Iraq chair of Arabic Studies at the University of Edinburgh. He is Chair of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF), Member of the Board of Trustees of the Gulf Research Centre-Cambridge, and a member of the Panel of Judges of the British Kuwaiti Friendship Society Book Prize for Middle Eastern Studies. Professor Suleiman-Malley is a former Vice President and Chair of Council of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, Former Chair of the British Kuwaiti Friendship Society Book Prize, and former member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Edinburgh. Professor Suleiman-Malley is an internationally leading scholar in Arabic sociolinguistics and Middle Eastern Studies. His edited book ‘Being Palestinian: Personal Reflections on Palestinian Identity in the Diaspora’ won the Palestine Book Award, Narrative Section in 2016. The Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh set up graduate awards and prizes in his name in recognition of his significant contributions to both institutions.

Dr. Chunliang Yang is a Research Fellow in the Diabetes Research Center at the Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI). She earned her Ph.D. in Immunology from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), under the mentorship of Prof. Cong-Yi Wang, a leading expert in diabetes immunology. During her doctoral and master's training at HUST, Dr. Yang specialized in dissecting the immunometabolic mechanisms underlying type 1 and type 2 diabetes, with a particular focus on the pathogenic roles of T cells and macrophages in disease progression.

Dr. Yang is highly skilled in establishing murine models of diabetes and employing advanced techniques in cellular immunology and metabolic phenotyping to investigate disease pathogenesis. Her productive research has led to multiple first-author publications in high-impact journals, including Molecular Therapy, in which her work has elucidated novel mechanisms involving the PDIA3 chaperone function and interferon regulatory factors in diabetes.

At QBRI, Dr. Yang continues to pursue her research interests at the intersection of immunology and metabolic diseases. She aims to further unravel the cellular crosstalk and immunometabolic pathways that contribute to diabetes and related metabolic disorders, with the ultimate goal of identifying novel therapeutic strategies.

Dr. Salim Bougarn is a multidisciplinary clinical and translational research scientist with over 15 years of experience in immunology, oncology, infectious diseases, and cellular therapy. He has led pioneering research at the intersection of cancer biology, immune engineering, and host-pathogen interactions.

From 2015 to 2023, Dr. Bougarn served as a staff scientist associate at Sidra Medicine, Doha, where he led projects on primary immunodeficiencies, pediatric infectious diseases, immune profiling in rare diseases, cancer stem cells, and cellular therapy. His work advanced functional genomics in neonates and children, and deepened understanding of genetic susceptibility to infections.

His oncology research includes adoptive cell therapy, CAR-T and CAR-NK engineering, microRNA roles in tumorigenesis, and cancer risk modeling in IBD. He previously held a postdoctoral position at Weill Cornell Medical College (Qatar and New York) and served as a research assistant/lecturer at the Universities of Amiens and Tours in France, contributing to vaccine development and innate immunity research.

Dr. Bougarn holds a Ph.D. in Immunology and Infectious Diseases from INRA, France, a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), and a Master’s in Drug Toxicology.

His research interests include cancer immunotherapy, cancer stem cells, pediatric immunology, host-pathogen interactions, precision medicine, and functional genomics.
 

Professor Omneya Abdelsalam is a professor of ethical finance & sustainable Development, a certified educator accredited by the UK Chartered Association of Business Schools (CABS), and a fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy (Advance HE) since 2004. She obtained her PhD from Edinburgh Business School and held academic positions in triple-accredited UK business schools for 25 years. She has also assumed various academic leadership roles in top international universities over the last 15 years. She is the founding director of the International Research Centre “Ethical Finance, Accountability & Governance” (EFAG) at Durham University (top 100) and the founding and lead director of Durham University Sustainable Development Goals Implementation Network, funded by the British Council (Newton Fund). She received multiple awards and secured substantial research funding totalling £2.25 million from UK and international research councils and industry. She is currently working on two funded international research projects. She published her research in top international academic journals such as the Journal of Corporate Finance, British Accounting Review, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Journal of Banking & Finance (All A* rated) as well as Journal of Business Ethics (Financial Times top 50), Journal of Financial Services Research, Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions & Money, and Journal of Financial Stability (All A rated). She is a subject editor of the Journal of International Financial Markets Institutions & Money (A rated) and Emerging Markets Review (A rated). She supervised 126 Master's, MBA & PhD students up to successful completion, and her students have progressed well in academic, research, as well as professional careers in many countries around the world (UK, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Egypt, Germany, UK, Morocco, etc).

Dr. Ghanimeh El-Taweel is an Affiliate Instructor at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar. She is a disability advocate and activist whose work centers on media accessibility and inclusive communication in the Arab world. She holds a PhD in Translation Studies: Media Accessibility from the University of Antwerp. Ghanimeh teaches courses in Translation for Access, covering topics such as audio description, subtitling for deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences, and easy-to-understand language. Her research explores the intersection of disability, deafness, and accessibility within Arabic media and cultural contexts.
 

From 2022 to today, Dr. Beka has served as a consultant for the Digital Sīra Project at the College of Islamic Studies, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, where he leads multilingual research and digital teams in producing innovative 3D and VR educational content on the Prophet’s life. 
 

Dr. Salman M Toor graduated in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Bradford, UK, and obtained his PhD in Tumour Immunology and Teaching Certification from the University of Portsmouth, UK. Dr. Toor worked at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, as a Research Assistant from 2014, and joined Qatar Biomedical Research Institute as a Research Associate in 2017, focusing on Cancer Immunology. He then joined Dr. Omar Albagha’s research group focusing on Genomic Medicine at the College of Health and Life Sciences, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, as a Post-Doctoral Researcher.

Dr. Toor is presently working as a Research Fellow at Qatar Biomedical Research Institute in Dr. Omar Albagha’s group. His current research is aimed at understanding the genetic determinants of complex diseases with an emphasis on Cardiovascular diseases and Diabetes. Dr. Toor is an Associate Editor for Biochemistry and Biophysics Reports (Elsevier) and an Editorial Board member of Discover Oncology and Discover Immunity (Springer Nature).

With more than 50 research publications in reputed scientific journals, Dr. Toor aspires to excel in academia and in biomedical research.