Distinguished Guests

Alireza Haghighi, M.D., D.Phil. is a clinician-scientist, an A/Professor in Medicine, and the Founding Director of the International Center for Genetic Disease at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Haghighi provides consultation to governments and academic and industrial organizations and institutes. He is regularly invited as a keynote speaker at international conferences and meetings on genomics, genomic and precision medicine, global health, and capacity building in medicine. He is an American board-certified geneticist. He completed his graduate and clinical training at the University of Oxford, and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Haghighi is the PI of the National Genome Project of Bahrain at Harvard. For his research, he investigates the genetic basis for human disease, with a focus on cardiovascular disease (e.g., cardiomyopathies, and congenital heart disease) and translating the research discoveries into better diagnostics and improved patient care. He is the PI on NIH- and AHA-funded projects for investigating the genetics of unexplained cardiomyopathies in adult and children. He is also the Director of GEnetics NEtwork in the Middle East and Africa (GENE-ME), a large clinical research network for genetic studies in those regions that aims to: (1) identify novel disease-causing mutations and genotype-phenotype correlations, and (2) advance genomic medicine in the Middle East and Africa through capacity building. Dr. Haghighi has led many international projects for advancing medical science in different countries (such as in Africa and the Middle East) to improve the health and well-being of people. He is the founding President of Advancement Initiative for Medicine and Science (AIMS), a global foundation that brings together academics and physicians and is dedicated to advancing medical science and healthcare in developing countries. He has received many awards for his research and international projects, including the International Genetic Disorders Prevention Award in 2018 (for outstanding contributions to and scientific excellence in genetic research), the Global Health Pioneer Award in 2019 (for significant contribution to improving the quality of life through innovation and capacity building)

Dr. Shahrukh Hashmi is currently the Director of Research at the Department of Health, Abu Dhabi, UAE and a Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine (Minnesota, US). He graduated from Baqai Medical University, Pakistan, as the top graduate receiving Gold Medal from the President of Pakistan. He received master’s degree (MPH) from Yale University, Connecticut, US. He is triple-boarded from the United States, being Diplomat of the American Board of Preventive Medicine/Public Health, Internal Medicine, and Hematology. He has served as PI or Co-PI on many industry-sponsored and NIH-sponsored trials. His research interests include Aging Biology/Healthspan, Artificial Intelligence, and Cellular therapies (CAR-T cells and Gene Therapy). He has authored >300 articles in peer-reviewed journals, including in JAMA journals, Lancet journals, and NEJM, has an H-index of >50, and citations of >10,000. He chairs many international professional committees/groups including being the Chair of the Worldwide Network for Blood and Marrow Transplant’s (WBMT) Global Emergencies Committee (Geneva, Switzerland), Founding Chair of the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Survivorship SIG (Chicago, Illinois, US), and Ex Co-Chair of the Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Registry’s (CIBMTR) Health Services Committee (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US). He is also an adjunct faculty at Khalifa University, UAE, and at Mohamad Bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, Abu Dhabi, UAE. His achievements include establishing the first BMT survivorship program of Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, establishing the first Clinical Trials Unit (Clinical Research Department) of Saudi Arabia at King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Center (KFSHRC) in Riyadh, KSA, and establishing the UAE’s first Clinical Trials Unit (CTU) at SSMC/Mayo Clinic in Abu Dhabi, UAE. He also carries IND for one of the first senolytics for First-in-Human Trials from the US-FDA and continues to serve as PI or Co-PI on Aging trials on healthspan. Dr. Hashmi is also active as a Board Member of many organizations including Make-A-Wish Foundation UAE, Cancer Patient Care Society (Rahma) UAE, Emirates Thalassemia Society UAE, Rose Nwatu Cancer Foundation Board (US), besides being the Associate Editor of JTCT (highest impact factor journal in the field of Cellular Therapies), and on Editorial Boards of numerous peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Usman Ahmad, MD, is Division Chair of Thoracic Surgery within Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi's Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute. Prior to joining Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Dr. Ahmad was a staff surgeon in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, US. He was the director of Thoracic Robotic surgery and assistant director of Lung Transplant programs at Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Ahmad holds a joint appointment with the Taussig Cancer Institute and is Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.

Mr. Khaled Al Huraimel serves as the Group Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of BEEAH Group, where his visionary leadership has significantly transformed the organization from its foundational focus on waste management into a pioneering force with over 13,000 staff in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt within the realms of sustainability and digital innovation. In addition to his executive role at BEEAH, Mr. Al Huraimel’s strategic insight and leadership are recognized across various sectors. He holds the position of Chairman at the Emirates Waste to Energy Company and re.life, and serves on the boards of Evoteq and the Sharjah Research, Technology and Innovation Park, among others. His contributions as a council member to the UAE Circular Economy Council underline his dedication to fostering a sustainable and technologically driven future. Mr. Al Huraimel’s academic credentials, comprising a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and an MBA, along with executive education from Harvard Business School and Wharton Business School, provide a solid foundation for his strategic and forward-thinking leadership. As a co-author of "Reimagining Business with AI," he is at the forefront of integrating sustainability, technology, and innovation to navigate BEEAH Group towards a pivotal role in shaping a progressive and sustainable global narrative.