Professor Khawla Al-Kuraya is a distinguished physician-scientist and Chair of Human Cancer Genomic Research at the Research & Innovation Centre, King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre (KFSHRC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

After completing her residency in Pathology and fellowship in Molecular Diagnostics at
Georgetown University Hospital, where she also obtained board certification in Clinical Pathology, she joined KFSHRC as a Clinical Scientist.

Professor Al-Kuraya is an internationally recognized leader in cancer genomics and translational oncology. Her research focuses on defining the molecular landscape of prevalent Saudi tumors using advanced genomic technologies. Under her leadership, KFSHRC became the only institution from the Middle East to join the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC).

She has authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications, editorials, and book chapters, and presented more than 300 abstracts at international scientific meetings. Her work has been widely cited and featured in global media for its contribution to precision medicine and population-specific cancer research.

Professor Al-Kuraya serves on the Executive Committee of the ICGC, several editorial boards, and is an active member of major international scientific societies. She is the first Saudi female recipient of the King Abdulaziz Medal (First Rank) for her contributions to medical research and was among the first women appointed to the Majlis Al Shura (Saudi Parliament). She also served as a Visiting Professor of Medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and has received multiple national and international awards recognizing her pioneering role in medical science and women’s leadership in research.
 

Professor Stephen Scherer, PhD DSc FRSC, is Chief of research and holds the Northbridge chair in paediatric research at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and University of Toronto (UofT), and he is Director of the UofT McLaughlin Centre, as well as the Centre for Applied Genomics at SickKids. His team contributed to the landmark discovery of global gene copy number variation (CNV) as a common form of genetic variation in human DNA. As part of this discovery, he founded the Database of Genomic Variants, which now catalogues >2 million CNVs, and is used to facilitate hundreds of thousands of clinical diagnoses worldwide each year. His team also identified CNV of specific genes involved in brain development to contribute to Autism Spectrum Disorder, demonstrating that this complex human behavioral condition can have a biological basis. His research is documented in over 750 scholarly publications and patents. Dr. Scherer has won numerous honors, such as the Steacie prize, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute scholarship, the Premier’s summit award for medical research, the Killam prize, the Debrecen award for molecular medicine, and multiple honorary degrees. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Royal Society of Canada. In 2014, he was selected as an esteemed Thomson Reuters (now Clarivate) Citation Laureate in Physiology and Medicine for “the discovery of large-scale copy number variation and its association with specific diseases.

Professor Raghib Ali is an internationally recognized leader in clinical epidemiology and population health. He is also a clinical epidemiologist at the University of Cambridge, research professor at New York University Abu Dhabi, a consultant in Acute Medicine at the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust and an honorary consultant with the Office for Health Disparities and Improvement.

He is the CEO, chief investigator and chief medical officer of Our Future Health, the largest health research programme of its kind in the world with over 2.5 million participants, focused on discovering new ways to prevent, detect, and treat disease. He was appointed as chief medical officer in 2022 and CEO in 2023 and has built Our Future Health into the most diverse cohort in UK history with greater geographic, socio-economic and ethnic diversity than any previous study. 

He graduated from Cambridge University and has been awarded postgraduate degrees in epidemiology and public health from the Universities of London, Cambridge and Oxford and is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.

Professor Raghib’s research is distinguished by methodological rigour, scale, and policy relevance. His research is helping to transform the understanding of the aetiology and prevention of non-communicable diseases. His main research interests are in health inequalities and specifically in improving understanding of the causes of non-communicable diseases in neglected populations in the UK, India and the Middle East, and how to prevent them. 

He has published over 150 papers with over 100,000 citations and an H-index of 55 and been awarded grants of over £400 million for Our Future Health and the UAE Healthy Future Study. He has also been involved in population health research since 2004 nationally and globally, working firstly on UK Biobank, then leading studies of cancer incidence by ethnic group in England and India from 2005 to 2013. 

Professor Raghib Ali established the UAE Healthy Future Study in 2014 which focuses on understanding the causes of common chronic diseases including obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. He was awarded the OBE for services to the NHS and the Covid 19-response in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2022. In April 2023, he was elected to the Honorary Fellowship of the UK Faculty of Public Health, the highest accolade the Faculty can bestow and is awarded to those who have given exceptional service to the science, literature or practice of public health. 

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.
 

Rayan Khalil is an architect and architectural researcher with over five years of experience in academic research and an equal tenure as a lecturer and design studio instructor. She began her teaching career at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Khartoum, as a teaching assistant, later serving as a lecturer at the National University, which holds accreditation from the British Accreditation Board. 

Alongside her academic career, Rayan has built a long, intermittent practice in architectural and interior design, with her most recent project completed in Cairo, Egypt, in July 2024. She has also contributed as a researcher and writer with Studio Urban, collaborating on multidisciplinary projects with the Goethe-Institut and the British Council.

In addition to her architectural work, Rayan is an accomplished visual artist, having participated in numerous regional and international exhibitions, most recently in Doha in 2024. Her professional journey reflects a commitment to bridging architectural practice, research, and creative expression across diverse cultural and disciplinary contexts, combining scholarly depth with practical design expertise.
 

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. 
 

Sarah Zuhair has over ten years of experience teaching Arabic to non-native speakers. She has worked at Qasid Institute, Sijal Institute, and the Language Center at the University of Jordan. Additionally, she has been part of the Arabic teaching programs at Middlebury College and Al Jazeera Media Institute.

Alongside teaching, Sarah is a professional translator from English to Arabic, specializing in academic and literary translation. She regularly contributes translations to Al-Thaqafa Al-Alamiya, a magazine published by the National Council for Culture, Arts, and Letters in Kuwait. She is proficient in Arabic, English, and Turkish, and enjoys working in a team and engaging in diverse, dynamic activities.

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.
 

Diana Hassan is a public health scholar with a focus on community health promotion and health policy. She has more than 15 years of experience supporting initiatives that respond to the health needs of diverse populations across the lifespan and advancing policies that promote equity.

Before joining HBKU, Diana worked at Qatar University, where she conducted community-based research and supported institutional and national health priorities. She built a strong teaching record through curriculum development and student mentorship. Earlier in her career in the United States, she gained practice-based experience as a health educator, working with government agencies and community organizations on programs that strengthened community capacity and supported local health efforts.

Diana’s current work aims to bridge research, policy, and practice through initiatives on WHO age-friendly cities and health-promoting universities, ensuring that findings translate into strategies that advance population health and inform policy development.
Diana has secured competitive grants from funders including the Qatar National Research Fund, QU grants, the USDA, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and the Allen Foundation.