CAXT celebrates the achievements of its researchers in the Ibn Khaldun Scholarship Program

King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) celebrated the International Day of Women and Girls in Science by celebrating the scientific achievements of researchers participating in the Ibn Khaldun Fellowship Program, implemented by the city in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), under the supervision of a group of elite faculty members who support… The program has attracted more than 50 Saudi female researchers who have earned doctoral degrees in their research and careers at MIT. The Khaldun Fellowship Program covers computer science and artificial BroadCast Unitedligence, medical and biological sciences, materials science, nanoscience, engineering, physics and biochemistry, neuroscience, stem cells, genomics, microbiology, and environmental sciences.

Through the program, female researchers are able to achieve success in the fields of research, development and innovation, win scientific awards, publish research papers in the most prestigious peer-reviewed journals, and conduct research in disciplines that serve the development of the Kingdom. Dr. Lamia Al-Muhammadi was awarded the 2023 Rising Star Award in Analytical Chemistry, Dr. Walaa Khushaim was selected as a Young Scientist at the 72nd Lindau Nobel Laureate Conference in 2023, and Dr. Rawan Al-Subaie’s efforts earned her the Best Doctoral Lecture Award at the European Neuroscience Conference.

Dr. Walaa Kattan’s research has also discovered many new therapeutic targets for cancers caused by the KRAS gene. Dr. Alaa Al-Qarqoush has won two awards at the MIT Research Slam competition for his research in this area. Dr. Dalal Al-Ezzi and Dr. Maha Al-Juhani have been awarded the Boston Consulting Group’s 2024 V60 Science Innovation Award.

Dr. Maryam Al-Sharqi published a research paper in the European Journal of Cardiac Imaging Methods and Practice on the development of a machine learning-based score to assess the electrocardiogram in adults with hypertension. Dr. Hind Al-Rasheed also has many publications in the European Journal of Cardiac Imaging Methods and Practice. There are many peer-reviewed journals in the field of computational social science and network science, most notably Nature.

Dr. Shorouk Al-Sinan won the first place for the best outstanding doctoral dissertation in the School of Computer and Information Sciences at King Saud University, Dr. Jawaher Al-Mutlaq was selected as one of the most famous editors of the 50 best research papers in the field of materials Science and Chemistry published in Nature magazine, and Dr. Iman Aqili was appointed as a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.

The findings prepared by Dr. Areej Al-Hazmi show that peptides can be used to treat a group of diseases caused by bacteria that affect humans, in addition to treating diseases such as sickle cell anemia. Babtain was selected as an Innovator Under 35 in the Middle East and North Africa region by MIT Technology Review magazine, and Dr. Fatima Azim’s research, published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, discovered a new method. This enables the development of advanced membranes, such as: separation processes, sensors, conductors and batteries.

During her time at MIT, Dr. Nouf Al-Mousa held many leadership positions, she was a member of the Radiation Protection Committee and the Safe and Sustainable Laboratory Working Group, and she also published several research papers as the paper “Effects of Corrosion of Commercial Alloys in Molten Fluoride Salts by Synchrotron Proton Irradiation.”

The city also enables women in science to become active partners in research, development and innovation, and to achieve the Kingdom’s visionary goals of transforming to an innovative economy, as demonstrated by the percentage of female employees who receive scholarships reaching 48% of the total number of female researchers in the city by 2023, 50.48% of the total number of female employees in the city, 12.38% of the city’s employees with a doctorate degree, 59.52% with a master’s degree, and 28.10% with a bachelor’s degree.