Dr. Mustapha Aouida received his PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology in 2003 from both the Science University of Tunis and Gustave Roussy Institute, Paris. For his post-doctoral fellowship he joined Professor Ramotar at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Research Institute in Montreal where he studied the mechanism by which yeast cells and mammalian cells become resistant to the antitumor drug bleomycin. Dr. Aouida joined the College of Health and Life Sciences in April 2016 as a Lab Manager and is currently a Research Scientist at the college.

Dr. Vishnubalaji Radhakrishnan earned his Master’s degree in Biochemistry and Biotechnology, and Ph.D. in Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine from Bharathidasan University, India, and has conducted his Ph.D. research work at Southampton University, UK; Southern University, Denmark and King Saud University, Riyadh.  Dr. Vishnu completed his post-doctoral work at the King Saud University, Riyadh and Southern University, Denmark. His experiences are very well accomplished in the field of stem cells and cancer biology with interdisciplinary techniques. During his postdoctoral training, he studied on novel biomarker discovery and targeted therapeutics for breast and colorectal cancers together with cancer stem cells and also investigated the novel epigenetic compounds that regulate the bone forming potential of human mesenchymal stem cells. He has published more than 20 articles in top-tier ISI-indexed journals.

 Dr. Vishnubalaji Radhakrishnan, has joined as a Postdoc at the Translational Oncology Research Center, reporting to Dr. Nehad Alajez. His office is located in the RDC, office no 1330; you can reach him on: vbradhakrishnan@hbku.edu.qa

Dr. Gabriele Oligeri is an Associate Professor at College of Science and Engineering. Before joining Hamad Bin Khalifa University, he was an assistant research professor at KINDI Center for Computing Research at Qatar University. He received his M.Sc and PhD degrees in Computer Engineering from the University of Pisa. He spent about 6 years at the Italian National Research Council (CNR), 1 year at the University of California (UCI), 2 years at the University of Trento (IT), and 2 years at the University of Roma Tre (IT).

Prof. Amine Bermak is a Distinguished Professor and Associate Dean of the College of Science and Engineering. He received his Master's and PhD degrees in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Microelectronics and Microsystems) from Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France, in 1994 and 1998, respectively.

His research can be best described as being at the crossroads between algorithmic solutions and hardware-friendly VLSI architecture for sensors, microsystems, and Artificial Intelligence applications. He has published 539 papers (230 journals, 8 book chapters, 286 conference papers, and 15 patents), mostly in top-tier venues. Prof. Bermak has delivered 26 invited keynotes and won 7 best paper awards.

He is the recipient of the Best Researcher Award at CSE in 2019, the Best Innovator Award at HBKU in 2022, the Service Excellence Award at HBKU in 2023, and the Research Excellence Award at HBKU in 2024. He is the General Chair of IEEE DELTA 2008, IEEE BioCAS 2009, and ICM 2024. He has also served on multiple editorial boards of IEEE journals. Prof. Bermak is a Fellow of IEEE and an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer. He has been the Chair of the HBKU University Senate since 2024.

Areej Mesleh is a Postdoctoral Researcher with expertise in neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders. She graduated with distinction from Qatar University in 2017 and completed her master’s degree in 2019 at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, where she investigated neuroinflammation in Parkinson's disease. Mesleh earned her PhD in 2023, focusing on proteomics in autism spectrum disorder. She is currently working on developing conformation-specific nanobodies against alpha-synuclein as a potential diagnostic and therapeutic tool for Parkinson's disease.

Dr. Abeer Al-Shammari is a Scientist at the Neurological Disorders Research Center of the Qatar Biomedical Research Institute. She was awarded a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Oxford in the U.K. In 2019, she received the Education Excellence Award under the patronage of His Highness the Emir of Qatar. Her research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism, with the ultimate goal of identifying potential biomarkers and developing targeted therapies.

Dr. Al-Shammari leads a dynamic research team that employs cutting-edge techniques, including immunological assays, stem cell-derived brain cells, gene editing, bioinformatic analysis of single-cell sequencing data, advanced imaging techniques, and deep learning models. Her work has been recognized with multiple research grants and awards. She actively supervises graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, fostering the next generation of scientists. With a passion for advancing scientific discovery, Dr. Al-Shammari is committed to translating her research findings into real-world applications that could improve the lives of individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders.

Maha Al-Thani is a Research Fellow at Qatar Biomedical Research Center. Her primary research focus is human iPSC disease modeling and neurovascular unit co-culture. She received her PhD in Clinical Neurosciences from the University of Cambridge, and her dissertation “hiPSC-Derived Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Models”, published in 2023, was centered around blood-brain barrier modeling that led to novel hiPSC-derived models of the cerebral Small Vessel Disease variants COL4A1/2 and HTRA1. These models were later used in a drug-screening collaboration with AstraZeneca. The project was funded by the British Heart Foundation, Alzheimer’s Association, Stroke Association and Medical Research Foundation.

Dr. Mohammad Farhan is an Associate Professor at the College of Health and Life Sciences at Hamad Bin Khalifa University. He leads an innovative research program focused on the genomics and epigenetics of psychiatric and neurological disorders. With a PhD in transcriptomic biomarkers of acquired epilepsy from the Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology, Delhi, and postdoctoral training at the University of Oxford and A-STAR & Duke-NUS Medical School, he has cultivated a multidisciplinary expertise. At Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Dr. Farhan has established active collaborations with Sidra Medicine and Hamad Medical Corporation, investigating the genetics and biomarkers of mental health disorders in the Qatari population.

Dr. Farhan is a member of several scientific societies and serves as an editor for Translational Medicine Communications and Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience. His research endeavors are supported by various grants from QNRF, MRC, and HBKU. Dr. Farhan’s research aims to unravel the molecular underpinnings of these conditions and pave the way for precision medicine approaches. Dr. Farhan's contributions to the field have been recognized through publications in high-impact journals such as Nature Methods, Neuron, Current Biology, PLOS Biology, BMC Medicine, etc. He actively engages in scientific outreach, participating in op-eds for newspapers, magazines, and TV shows, both locally and internationally.

Lina Hassna holds the position of Planning Manager at QBRI. She has a combined technical and management experience. She started her career in 2005 at Hamad Medical Cooperation as a lab technologist. It provided her with a rich knowledge and experience of technical aspects in biomedical science, which helps in her current position. In 2009 she joined Qatar Foundation, specifically Qatar Research Leadership Program (QRLP) with an ambition to lead and actively participate in the development and administration of research and development. As part of this program, she worked in different national and international institutes where she led & participated in different projects, got hands on experience and gained important skills among the projects that she led is the development of market access plan for new drug discovered by Sanofi Aventis in Paris.

After successfully graduating from QRLP, Lina joined QBRI in 2011 as Planning Manager and played an important role in launching the institute. She actively participated in building the infrastructure and attracting highly qualified talents. In QBRI she is mainly in charge of business planning and monitoring, capacity building programs and research partnerships. She led and participated in strategically important projects e.g. QBRI integration with Shafallah Medical Genetic Center and Hamda Bin Khalifa University, the building of first QBRI Research lab, the development of Summer Research Program, the development of QBRI Risk Register, the partnership with Hamad Medical Collaboration ---etc.

Lina has multidimensional educational experiences ranging from a B.Sc. degree in Biomedical Science, Qatar University to a Masters degree in Business Administration (MBA), Qatar University which has enhanced her administration knowledge and ability. She recently focused on project and portfolio management and has been certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP) by the Project Management Institute (PMI), USA.