KGM Club Speakers
Dr.Laila Bastaki
Dr. Laila is a senior consultant of genetics and serves as the director of Kuwait medical genetic center.
She was awarded with World Health Organization (WHO) award in 2013. Dr. Laila was recognised for reestablishing newborn screening program to detect genetic disorders, establishing registration units for metabolic, genetic and neurological muscle disorders in Kuwait, in addition to the discovery of three new genes.
In the past few years she has cooperated with genetic research centers in the US and Europe and different medical and pharmaceutical entities to bring state of the art care and therapeutic interventions to patients in Kuwait.
Dr.Crystal Proud
Dr. Proud is the Chief of Neurology and Director of Neuromuscular Medicine at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, working collaboratively to provide a comprehensive approach to patients with neuromuscular diseases. She attended college at the University of Virginia where she majored in Neuroscience, and then studied at Eastern Virginia Medical School where she received her Doctorate of Medicine. She pursued general Pediatrics training in Atlanta, Georgia at Emory University. She then trained in Neurology to receive special qualifications in Child Neurology at Stanford University. She remained at Stanford for her Neuromuscular Medicine fellowship and then returned home to Virginia to join her current practice as part of Children’s Specialty Group, serving the patients at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters (CHKD) in Norfolk, Virginia. She is primary investigator for several clinical trials evaluating novel treatments for patients with various neuromuscular conditions. Her research focus is in the development and conduct of therapeutic trials for spinal muscular atrophy and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Dr. Proud serves as the Medical Director for the CHKD Novel Therapeutics and Gene Therapy Center, with a commitment to optimizing clinical care and offering participation in clinical research to patients and families affected by rare disease.
Dr.Maya Zeineddine
Dr. Zeineddine is a Lebanese Senior Clinical/Ambulatory Care Pharmacist specialized in neurology and multiple sclerosis. Winner of the “Best Clinician” and “Positive Attitude” awards, she completed several internships at major hospital and community pharmacies in Lebanon and the US and graduated from LAU with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree with distinction in June 2011. In August 2015, she successfully passed the Multiple Sclerosis Specialization examination and became the first and only Multiple Sclerosis Certified Pharmacist in Lebanon and the Middle East. From September 2011-August 2020, she worked as the ambulatory care pharmacist of the Multiple Sclerosis Center of the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC). In December 2015, she was appointed as Executive Secretary of the Middle East North Africa Committee for Research and Treatment in Multiple Sclerosis (MENACTRIMS). Dr.Zeineddine is an active researcher and a public speaker. She has multiple publications, is involved in several international clinical trials in the field of neurology and multiple sclerosis and is a member of several national and international professional organizations. From 2015 and until 2022, she was also the fund coordinator at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society of Lebanon (MSSL). She is currently the leader of the Neuropsychiatry Listserv at IVPN-Network and is a PhD candidate in “Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases” at the Tropical Institute of Neurology at Limoges University, Limoges, France. In May 2023, she was invited by the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation to join their International Medical and Scientific Board, representing the Middle East and North Africa region in the aim of improving the quality of life of people affected by multiple sclerosis.
Dr.Asma AlTawari
is a consultant pediatrician, neurologist, and epileptologist. She graduated from Cairo University, continued the postgraduate training, and earned a diploma in child health from Dublin. She then secured the membership and a fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom. In the 1990s, she joined the pediatric neurology unit which provides services of in-patient and out-patient clinics as well as neurophysiological studies. This was initiated in the 1970s and covers the whole state of Kuwait. She underwent pediatric neurology training at The New Children Hospital, Sydney, Australia in 1998. In 2013, she received the certificate of the epilepsy and EEG fellowship from the King Faisal Specialty Hospital and Research Center, Saudi Commission for health specialties. She became the first epilepsy specialist and started running the first pediatric epilepsy service at the pediatric department AL Sabah Hospital. The modern digital technology was introduced for long-term video-EEG monitoring as part of presurgical evaluations for drug-resistant cases of epilepsy; however, surgical cases are boarded to a recognized epilepsy surgery center. The plan is to introduce the epilepsy surgery soon in Kuwait.
She is a member of the Kuwait Medical Association (KMA), International League against Epilepsy (ILAE), Asian Ocean Child Neurology Association (AOCNA), Kuwait League against Epilepsy (KLAE).
Dr.Roger Watson
Roger Watson is Academic Dean at Southwest Medical University, China. He is a biology graduate of The University of Edinburgh with a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Sheffield who qualified in nursing at St George’s Hospital, London. He has a special interest in the feeding and nutritional problems of older people with dementia. He is Editor-in-Chief of Nurse Education in Practice and former Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Advanced Nursing, Journal of Clinical Nursing and founding editor of Nursing Open. He is an Editorial Board member of the WikiJournal of Medicine. He has honorary positions in Hong Kong, China, Ireland and Slovenia. He was a member of the UK 2008 Research Assessment Exercise sub-panel for Nursing and Midwifery and a 2014 Research Excellence Framework sub-panel for Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy. In 2017 he was inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame, in 2020 he was awarded Doctor Honoris Causa by Maribor University, Slovenia and was the 2022 winner of the Margaret Comerford Freda Award for Leadership in Editorial Leadership in Nursing Publication awarded by the International Academy of Nursing Editors
Dr.Moudhi Almaie
Dr.Moudhi obtained her Bachelor of Medicine & Surgery from Kuwait university in 2001 followed by a Fellowship from University of California San Francisco, USA.
She served as acting Head of Clinical Chemistry at Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital & Head of POCT committee- Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital in 2019 where she helped established the Toxicology services.
She also served as Teaching Assistant in Kuwait University, Faculty of Medicine, Pathology Department, in 2020
Currently she is the Newborn Screening Laboratory Director at Kuwait Medical Genetics Center since 2021.
Dr.Shireen Marzouk
Dr. Shireen Marzouk is a Consultant Pediatrician from Toronto, Canada. she completed her undergraduate degree in Behavioral Neuroscience followed by a Master’s of Science Degree at the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto.
She completed her Medical Doctorate Degree at Memorial University followed by pediatric training with a focus in Pediatric Allergy at Western University. She has been practicing as a Consultant Pediatrician in the Toronto area where she was an adjunct Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Marzouk was also a clinical researcher at The Hospital for Sick Children in the field of Food Allergy and Oral Immunotherapy. She has currently joined the Pediatric Team at the Circle Care Medical Team in Dubai, UAE as of Fall 2023.
Dr.Aziza Mushiba
Dr Aziza Mushiba is a qualified pediatrician having 10 years of Clinical experience. Recently, she successfully finished a two years clinical fellowship in clinical genetics and metabolic disorders from GOSH (Great Ormond Street Hospital), London. Prior to that, she owned a Saudi fellowship in the same subspeciality from KFMC ( King Fahad Medical City) and Saudi board in General pediatrics from PSMMC ( Prince Sultan Military Medical City),Riyadh.
She has keen interest in dealing children with In-born errors of metabolic disease, multiple congenital anomalies, cancer genetics and other Genetic disorders.
Currently, she is working as consultant of clinical genetics and metabolic disorders at King Fahad Medical City- Riyadh. Apart from clinical work, she has taken many managerial positions such as: the fellowship program director of clinical genetics and metabolic disorders subspeciality and the chairman of the children’s specialized hospital research team.
Furthermore, she is very interested in educating the Saudi society about the genetic disorders by holding many workshops and being the deputy editor of the Saudi Society of Medical Genetics journal.
Dr.Barahim Tabarki
Dr. Tabarki completed his medical school at University of Tunisia and his residencies in pediatrics, pediatric neurology, and neurophysiology at Paris V University, France, and UCL Brussels, Belgium.
He is currently consultant pediatric neurology at Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, clinical tutor pediatric neurology residency program, and Professor at the university of Sousse, Tunisia.
His fields of clinical and research interest include epilepsy, movement disorders, and neurometabolic disorders. Academic teaching contributions include international courses and research focused on the same disorders, leading to numerous publications (125 pubmed indexed) and book chapters. He is a member of the editorial boards of several scientific journals.
Prof. Majid Alfadhel
Prof. Alfadhel is currently Deputy Executive Director of King Abdullah International Medical Research Centre (KAIMRC), Chairman of Genetics and Precision Medicine department at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Director of Medical Genomic lab at King Abdullah International Medical Research Centre (KAIMRC), and Professor of Pediatrics and Genetics at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences (KSAU-HS).
Additionally, he is founder and editor in chief of Journal of Biochemical and Clinical Genetics, Editorial board member of International Journal of Health Sciences, Editorial board member of the Journal of Nature and Science of Medicine (JNSM), Editorial board member of BMC Medical Genomics and Journal of Pediatric Genetics. Has more than 200 publications in high impact factor journals and more than 200 abstracts. He is supervisor and teachers for plenty of fellows, residents and medical students.
He was successful in contribution in discovery of 70 novel genes specifically for disorders involving the brain. In addition, he discovered a syndrome with dysmorphic features, intellectual disability, and speech delay, which named Alfadhel syndrome by the OMIM database, the official website for all genetic disorders.
Prof. Alfadhel’s foresight and passion for innovation, earned him an award for inventing a new application in the Apple store and Goggle play for the treatment of inborn errors of metabolism (IEM Drugs).