Dr. Said Ismail

Dr. Said Ismail holds a Ph.D. from the University of Oxford and an MSc from University College London (UCL). His experience extends over 25 years and involves research, education, clinical diagnostics, consultancy and management, including work at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at UCL, advisory roles at regional and international pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, and a professor and director at the University of Jordan Medical School and the Clinical Genetic Diagnostics Laboratory at the University Hospital. In 2015, Dr. Ismail joined Qatar Foundation, where he was instrumental in the efforts to launch the Qatar Genome Project. He saw the project grow into one of the largest population genomics initiatives in the region shedding light on the genetic makeup of Qataris as well as over 400 million genomically underrepresented Arabs. Said also holds the position of an adjunct professor at both Hamad Bin Khalifa University and Qatar University, and sits as a board member at the Shoman Research Fund as well as the Transplant Immunology Research Centre of Excellence (TIREX) at Koç University in Turkey. He is also the first president and co-founder of the International Society on Aptamer Nanotechnology and an editorial board member in multiple international journals. Dr. Ismail won several awards including the Said Foundation prize for young Arab researchers in the United Kingdom in 2001, the Ali Mango Award for distinguished Jordanian researchers in 2012 and the Shoman award for Arab researchers in biomedical sciences in 2013. Dr. Ismail has a special interest in promoting research among young Arab students. He launched one of the largest efforts to enhance the Arabic medical and scientific content on the internet – the “Bel-Arabi” initiative. He is also a board member of the Phi Science Institute, which aims to encourage research among Arab youth.