Arabs & Arabian Records Aggregator. Chronicler. Milestones of the 25 Countries of the Arabic Speaking World (official / co-official). AGCC. MENA. Global. Ist's to Top 10's. Records. Read & Enjoy./ www.arabianrecords.org
Ines Zaidi, Professor of Immunology at the Higher Institute of Medical Technologies at the University of Tunis El Manar, received the science and technology award of the Francophone University Agency during her participation in the ninth edition of the Francophone Award for Young Researchers.
Dr. Inas, a specialist in blood cell biology, excelled in the competition which included 113 candidates from different continents, such as America, Asia and Africa.
Thanks to her immensely advanced research, which demonstrates intelligence, scientific and cognitive abilities. The scholar’s work has also been published in more than 40 international medical articles, which have provided many additions to humanity, health and medicine in general. Zaidi has been awarded the Sadiq Bessour scientific prize for research excellence in 2017, supported by the Sadiq Foundation in collaboration with the University of Montreal and the Ministry of Higher Education and Research in Tunisia.
Regarding the nature and importance of Ines Zaidi’s research, the piece of work highlights the inclusion and regulation of HASH-1 molecules in public health diseases, as an added value in the follow-up of pathological conditions, as well as in proposing new therapeutic strategies.
Only three other researchers in the world received the Francophone award from universities in Canada and Morocco, making them 4 international researchers with scientific recognition and utterly significant achievements.
Dr Bnar Talabani, who received award for combatting Covid-19 misinformation, says British monarch showed keen interest in her background.
A doctor who arrived in the UK as a child refugee from Iraq has received a top award from King Charles III for her prominent role in combatting Covid-19 misinformation throughout the pandemic.
Dr Bnar Talabani beamed as the monarch, 74, pinned the ribbon of the Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) on her dress during a ceremony at Windsor Castle on Thursday.
She said the monarch, 74, was “really interested” to hear about her background.
The immunology scientist shared photos of their meeting on social media.
“Investiture at Windsor Castle: I met His Majesty the King who was really interested in my background as a former refugee and was utterly delightful to talk to,” she wrote.
“Really special day celebrating with my wonderful family.”
The king could be seen shaking Dr Talabani’s hand and pinning a red ribbon on her dress, in the pictures.
As congratulations poured in for the outspoken doctor, she said she felt “really overwhelmed by everyone’s kind responses”.
Dr Talabani was born in 1988 in northern Iraq to a Kurdish family.
As a toddler, she left her homeland for Iran along with her mother and younger brother to escape Saddam Hussein’s regime. Her father and grandfather remained behind to fight against the dictator.
After making their way to Syria, the Talabanis were recognised as refugees and welcomed to the UK.
Dr Talabani went on to graduate from medical school and pursue a career as a kidney and transplant hospital doctor and immunology scientist at Cardiff University.
She also works as a guide for Team Halo, a global group of scientists and healthcare professionals working to dispel misinformation about the coronavirus.
During the height of the public health crisis she made a name for herself on TikTok.
Dr Talabani used her platform on social media to reach followers, many of them young people, to challenge false and inaccurate claims about Covid.
Nujoud Fahoum Merancy started the Twitter hashtag ‘YallaToTheMoon’ to support latest mission.
A Palestinian-American woman is one of the leaders of the Artemis missions, a programme by Nasa that aims to fly astronauts to the Moon.
Nujoud Fahoum Merancy, 43, is the chief of exploration mission planning at the US space agency and has been working in the space sector for more than two decades.
She started the Twitter hashtag ‘YallaToTheMoon’ to support the Artemis 1 mission, which is scheduled for another launch attempt on Saturday, from Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre. ‘Yalla’ is an Arabic word that translates to ‘let’s go’ or ‘come on’.
Before the historic event, Ms Merancy spoke to The National about her Palestinian roots and her involvement in the Artemis programme.
A stellar career
The Artemis 1 mission is an unmanned flight around the Moon that will test the performance of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft.
If successful, it would pave the way for Nasa to launch Artemis 2 and 3, crewed flights around the Moon and the first human lunar landing mission under the programme.
“As a Palestinian-American, I’m very excited to be a part of this programme,” she said.
“And, really, Nasa and Artemis, it is a much more diverse workforce than it was during the Apollo era.
“It’s important to me and to a lot of us that it represents all of humanity and Artemis itself is international because we have international partners.”
Ms Merancy, a mother-of-two, earned her bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Washington in Seattle.
From there, she joined the aerospace company Boeing to work on the International Space Station.
She then started working on the development of Orion, the spacecraft launching on top of Nasa’s mega Moon rocket on Saturday that will fly around the Moon — and one day carry astronauts.
“From that, I’ve transitioned into the mission planning for Artemis, which is designing and integrating the missions across all the programmes for Artemis, and that’s my current role,” she said.
Connecting with her Palestinian roots
Ms Merancy went viral on the internet in 2019 when she posted her official Nasa photo, in which she wore a blazer embroidered with Palestinian tatreez, a traditional cross-stitch, that she bought during a visit to her father’s home town of Nazareth.
Her father moved to the US more than 40 years ago to go to college.
Although she was born in the US and does not speak fluent Arabic, she said her Palestinian roots were important to her.
“I don’t speak Arabic, unfortunately, it’s one of those regrets that I’ll always have,” she said.
“I know the basics, a few words here and there, and the polite greetings.
“But I do enjoy the food and that is something I grew up on. And then as an adult, I started cooking.
“So, I have a whole bunch of Palestinian cookbooks just to learn other recipes that my family didn’t teach me.
“I do like to cook Palestinian food and that’s probably the biggest connection to the culture that I have.”
Palestinian presence in the space sector
Other Palestinians are involved in the Artemis programme or are making a name for themselves in the US space sector through other projects.
Soha Alqeshawi, born and raised in Gaza city with her seven siblings, currently works for Lockheed Martin as a software engineering associate manager and looks after Orion’s back up-flight software.
And Loay Elbasyouni is a Palestinian-American electrical engineer who helped design Nasa’s Mars rover, Perseverance.
“My parents did their best to provide me and my siblings with a good education and shield us from the effects of the continuous horrific conflict that Gaza has been living under,” Ms Alqeshawi told Portuguese journalist Margarida Santos Lopes in 2015.
“Living under constant fear and despair where everything is uncertain and basic life necessities such as electricity and sometimes water are unavailable for most of the day.
“Although I was the only one in my family who had the opportunity to leave Gaza for the US to study and work, all of my brothers and sisters are college-educated with degrees in science, engineering and business.”
“Going to school was sometimes a dangerous journey that could have death waiting at any step of the way.
“However, that made us more determined to achieve our dreams in receiving an education.’
Nujoud Fahoum Merancy went viral in 2019 when she posted her official Nasa photo, in which she wore a blazer embroidered with Palestinian tatreez, a traditional cross-stitch that she purchased during a visit to her father’s hometown of Nazareth. Photo: @nujoud
The Jordanian pharmacologist Nancy Hakooz has been chosen as the first recipient of a prestigious new prize for a scientist from a developing country, given by the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics.
The society, known as ISSX, is the premier scientific organisation for researchers who study how organisms metabolise and dispose of xenobiotics. Xenobiotics are compounds that are foreign to an organism or are not part of its normal nutrition. Examples include drugs, food additives, and environmental pollutants.
The new prize, called the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Xenobiotic Research by a Scientist from an Underrepresented Nation, will honour researchers either for a single major contribution to research in the field of xenobiotics, or for significant sustained contributions over time.
Hakooz, a professor of pharmacogenetics in the University of Jordan’s School of Pharmacy, was chosen to receive the inaugural award “in appreciation of her efforts in studying the effect of genes on drug response, and her studying the genes of genetically isolated peoples such as the Circassians and Chechens in Jordan.”
She will receive the award at the society’s international conference in Seattle in September
In an interview with Al-Fanar Media, Hakooz said it was important for Arab scientists to be represented in international scholarly societies like the ISSX. “We have distinguished research in this field, despite the lack of capabilities,” she said.
A Practical Element in Her Research
During her research career, Hakooz has focused on practical aspects of the topics she studies, such as how genetics affect the appropriateness of certain drugs for specific patients.
“Not all patients benefit from the same drug or the same dose, since there are genetic differences between people,” she said.
“If we can study the effect of these differences on the effectiveness of a drug in patients, then the prescription for each drug will be different from one person to another,” she said. “This is called personalising medicine, meaning that the drug is provided in accordance with each patient’s condition.”
Studying a Subject She Loved
Hakooz says she chose to study pharmacy “out of love and conviction.” She had many choices of what to study at university, she said, because her excellent grades in high school. “However, I was satisfied to study what I really loved.”
After she received her bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Jordan in 1992, Hakooz worked for a year as a teaching assistant in the School of Pharmacy. She then got a scholarship to study for a doctorate at the University of Manchester, in the United Kingdom.
She obtained her Ph.D. four years later, specialising in drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, the branch of pharmacology concerned with the movement of drugs within the body.
Challenges for Arab Researchers
After returning to the University of Jordan in 1997, Hakooz tried to work on research similar to her studies at the University of Manchester, but she ran into difficulties for lack of funding and support. She needed lab animals, she said, but their cost was very high, and it was not easy to obtain them in Jordan at that time.
The lack of sustained funding is one of the major challenges facing scientific research in Jordan, she said. Others include the lack of a group research culture, in which scientists exchange advice and knowledge.
When she first returned from abroad, Hakooz said, she found researchers working on isolated “islands”. However, things have become better in the last ten years, with much better collaboration among research groups, she said.
To have a group culture, she tells young researchers, it is not a requirement that all of them do the same type of research, but that they support each other through research participation, each in their own discipline.
Medicinal Clinical Trials in Jordan
Despite these challenges, Hakooz believes Jordan has a great opportunity to become a regional centre for clinical studies of new drugs. Jordan has distinguished, globally recognised research centres that could participate in such studies, she said.
Pharmaceutical companies need to conduct clinical trials of new medicines in more than one place to collect data on a drug’s effectiveness and safety, Hakooz said.
An important question, she said, is, “How similar are the genetics of the people who participate in drug trials?”
Being able to answer that question will allow researchers to say whether the drug will be just as effective when it is widely circulated, she said. “The answer may be positive or negative. In order to be sure, we must participate in those experiments.”
Women in Higher Education
In addition to conducting research, Hakooz has held several administrative positions in her academic career.
She served as the founding dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy at Zarqa University, in northern Jordan, between 2010 and 2016. She was also a vice president of the university for three years during the same period.
In 2016, she returned to her alma mater, the University of Jordan’s School of Pharmacy. Four years later, she become the head of the college’s department of biological and clinical pharmacy.
On women’s leadership in Arab higher education institutions, she said: “In our country, administrative positions are granted, not acquired, and are not open to competition.”
“At the University of Jordan, for example, we have one female vice president compared to four male vice presidents, and three female deans compared to 21 college deans,” she said.
“Academic leadership positions in public universities are governed by a permanent factor, which is personal acquaintances because they are governed by appointment.”
“Administrative positions in academia come and go,” she added. “My genuine passion is teaching and seeing my students’ eyes shine when they catch a new idea.”
After being chosen for a prestigious international award, the Jordanian scientist talked to Al-Fanar Media about her work and the challenges for researchers in the Arab region. (Photo: Nancy Hakooz).
Morocco has been continuously creating opportunities for women to integrate many fields and take the lead in positions that were once designed only for men.
Moroccan women are now represented in all fields, from sports and arts to politics and economics.
Indeed, the list is very long of inspiring, canonized Moroccan women whose bravery and infectious passion for social change remain central to the country’s history. For now, however, let’s just revel in the New Year spirit and celebrate the power of women in Morocco by looking back on the achievements of female Moroccan changemakers who made headlines in 2021.
Women in politics
This year, Moroccan politics welcomed seven new ministers in the Aziz Akhannouch government, making a third of the government’s representatives.
Nadia Fellah Alaoui, who is now the Minister of Economy and Finance, was the first woman to be appointed as the Minister of Tourism in the previous, Saadeddine El Othmani-led government.
Minister Delegate Ghita Mezzour has made a name for herself through her active engagement in Big Data, artificial intelligence (AI), and cybersecurity.
Other women at the forefront of government include: Fatima Zahra Ammor as Minister of Tourism and Handicraft, Fatima-Zahra Mansouri as Minister of Housing, Aouatif Hayar as Minister of Women, Family, and Social Integration, and Leila Benali as Minister of Energy Transition and Sustainable Development.
Nabila Rmili, who stepped down from her new position as Minister of Heath a few days after her appointment, retains her role as the first female mayor of Casablanca. Meanwhile, Asmaa Rhlalou, a journalist and the former deputy of the National Rally of Independents party (RNI) in the House of Representatives, and Fatima-Zahra Mansouri are the mayors of Rabat and Marrakech, respectively.
Moroccan women in science
Two Moroccan scientists and researchers at Mohammed V University, Rajaa Cherkaoui El Moursli and Farida Fassi, have made it to the list of top 50 scientists worldwide according to the international 2021 AD Scientific Index. They hold 33rd and 38th place respectively.
El Moursli, a professor of nuclear physics, holds the highest-ranking in Morocco, Africa, and the Arab League, while Fassi, a professor of physics at the Faculty of Sciences, follows closely in second-ranking across the regions.
In 2015, El Moursli received the L’Oreal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science for her contribution to proving the existence of the Higgs Boson. She is the first Moroccan woman to receive the prestigious award.
Professor Fassi contributed to the research of High Energy Physics, as well as to the Worldwide Large Hadron Collider (LHC) Computing Grid, which sets out to solve the problem of data storage for the LHC.
Moroccan women as global influencers
Sanae Lahlou was selected as a Young Global Leader in 2021 by The World Economic Forum (WEF).
She is now the director of consulting firm Mazars’ Africa Business Unit in Morocco. Lahlou works to connect African Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and creative start-ups by expanding their growth opportunities and transforming them into African and global champions.
Another Moroccan to make the headlines for her activism and commitment to provide girls around the globe with proper education is Iman Hammam.
Super Model Hammam was the first to receive the She’s the First (STF) inaugural Powerhouse of the Year Award. She is also the ambassador of STF, an organization that sponsors girls’ education in developing nations.
First Moroccan woman as General Manager of Microsoft Morocco
In November 2021, Salima Amira was appointed General Manager of Microsoft Morocco.
With 17 years of experience as a leader in competitive environments, such as Inwi and IBM, Amira firmly established herself in a field historically dominated by men when she became the first woman to hold the position of General Manager of Microsoft Morocco. The Casablanca subsidiary was founded in 1993.
Amira graduated from the Mohammadia School of Engineers in 2003 and from the Ecole des Ponts ParisTech in 2010.
Moroccans as Most Powerful Businesswomen in the MENA region
In February 2021, Forbes magazine featured four Moroccan women in the Middle East’s Power Businesswomen 2021 list.
Nezha Hayat was the first Moroccan to appear on the list, ranking eighth in the list of 50. Hayat is the CEO of Morocco’s Capital Market Authority and the president of the Africa Middle East Regional Committee at the International Organization of Securities Commissions.
The founder and CEO of AKSAL Group, Salwa Idrissi Akhannouch ranked 19th. Married to the current Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch, Salwa is an accomplished businesswoman. Her company is engaged in social community work and implemented a social project to support cultural, educational, and health projects across Morocco.
Rita Maria Zniber, the chairman and CEO of Diana Holding, occupied the 33rd rank. With over 50 years of experience in the food and beverage industry, Zniber’s company scope mainly includes agriculture, olive growing, poultry farming, trade, and distribution.
She is also the founder of the Rita Zniber Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports abandoned children in Morocco.
The 36th ranking went to Miriem Bensalah Chaqroun, the director of Holmarcom Group and the CEO of Oulmes, the largest mineral water company in Morocco. In 2019, the Moroccan businesswoman was appointed by the United Nations’ Secretary-General to join the Global Investors for Sustainable Development (GISD) alliance.
Women in cinema and arts
The Moroccan artist Meriem Bennani was the first Moroccan in the history of the Paris Fashion Week to assume the artistic direction of the fashion show.
Bennani decorated the show space and operated the Miu Miu livestream through displaying artwork and a series of artistic interventions starring her own mother and highlighting a fine line between virtual and real life.
Born in 1988 in Morocco, Bennani attended Cooper Union College in New York where she studied visual arts.
During the lockdown last year, Bennani teamed up with documentary filmmaker Orian Barki to animate a series of videos posted on Instagram titled “2 Lizards.”
In September 2021, Morocco hosted the first female-only organized Short Film Festival in Marrakech. The event was co-organized by Moroccan artist Ramia Beladel and French national Thais Martin.
In her work, Beladel illustrates subjects of everyday life in a multi-layered way. Her aim is to make the viewer imagine and interpret her artwork without being hindered by the historical reality.
In another film accolade, in October 2021, Moroccan actress Sandia Tajeddine won the Best Actress award at the 2021 Jordan International Film Festival.
Born in 1994, the actress began her career in theater at seven years old in school plays and camps. She graduated from the Rabat-based Higher Institute of Dramatic Art and Cultural Activities in 2017 and has since played challenging roles in many films and series, such as “Banat El Assas,” “The Punch,” and “Yacout W Anbar.”
These are just a few examples of Moroccan women who made the headlines this year.
source/content: moroccoworldnews.com
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Significant Achievements by Moroccan Women in 202 / pix; moroccoworldnews.com
Hajar Mousannif Ph.D , Award winning Scientist. Educationist. Researcher
WomenTech Global Awards 2020 (Silicon Valley, California) awarded Artificial Intelligence (AI) researcher Hajar Mousannif as the golden winner of the WomenTech Global AI Inclusion Award.
A researcher and lecturer in AI, professor of machine learning and big data analysis at Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakech, the Moroccan expert conducted her latest research on wireless sensor networks and vehicle networks.
Other Awards/ Honours:
2019 – First Prize in ‘Sustainability’ in Solar Decathalon Africa
Entrepreneurial Education Award at 13th National Business Day for Morocco’s Center for Young Leaders (CJD)
2014 – Winner L’Oreal-UNESCO for Women in Science International Award
2012 – Winner ‘Literati Network Award for Excellence
Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technology and Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency, has been named as one of Time’s 2021 list of the Next 100 Most Influential People in the World for successfully leading the UAE’s Hope Probe into Mars’ orbit, in the first-ever Arab interplanetary mission.
In addition to her work in sending the Arab world’s first spacecraft to Mars, Al Amiri is now ahead of bigger missions: to lead ambitious space and technology projects that contribute to the UAE’s bigger goal in establishing a knowledge-based economy. A lunar mission in 2024 and plans to build a human settlement on Mars by 2117 are among the ambitious projects that await the young minister who’s looking to promote research and development to create new industries as part of her role.
She took part in building the UAE’s first two satellites – DubaiSat-1 and DubaiSat-2, and the first entirely Emirati-made KhalifaSat.
She has been holding several responsibilities as the Chairwoman of the Emirates Scientists Council, Chairwoman of the Fourth Industrial Revolution Council and Chairwoman of the Dubai Future Academy Board of Trustees.
In 2017, she became the country’s first Minister of State for Advanced Sciences, a title that later changed in the latest cabinet reshuffle in August 2020 to the Minister of State for Advanced Technology. She was also then named the Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency.
In 2015, the World Economic Forum honoured her as one of its 50 Young Scientists for her contributions to science, technology and engineering.
She was also invited by the World Economic Forum to speak at Davos 2019 and became the first Emirati citizen to speak at an international TED event in 2017.
Mostly recently, she was selected in the BBC’s 100 Women 2020, a documentary that highlighted women leading change and making a difference during last year’s turbulent times.
