4th Annual Pediatric Neuroscience Conference 2024

Dr. Rana Al Shami

MD, CPAB, MRCPCH, BPNAB
Attending Physician, Division of Pediatric Neurology
Sidra Medicine, Qatar
Clinical Lecturer, Department of Clinical Academic Sciences, College of Medicine, Qatar University

Dr. Rana has been an Attending Physician in the Pediatric Neurology Division at Sidra Medicine since 2017.

She is a member of the pediatric neurology team and a faculty member for the neurology fellowship program in Sidra together as clinical faculty at Qatar University. Dr. Rana is a member of the pediatric neurology team: covering outpatient clinics (total of 6 clinics/week) during the clinic week, covering all consultations from the Sidra inpatient and ED department during on-call duty service. Dr. Rana takes care of PICU /NICU neurology cases while covering intensive care service week according to Sidra Medicine’s schedule in the department, reporting the EEG record for patients referred for EEG.

Dr. Rana is a faculty member for the neurology fellowship program in Sidra: responsible for scheduled didactic teaching of the pediatric neurology fellows.

Dr. Fahad Albassam

MD
Pediatric Neuroinflammatory and Pediatric Stroke Consultant
King Abdulaziz Medical City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Noora Alhamad

Noora Alhamad is a Pediatric Clinical Pharmacist with 6 years of experience in the field. She currently serves as the Lead Clinical Pharmacist for Gene Therapy, having supervised over 20 gene therapy administrations. Noora obtained her Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from Qatar University in 2017 and her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the same institution in 2018.

Dr. Aqeela Al-Hashim

MBBS, FRCPC, SBP, CABP
Subspecialty Consultant Pediatric Neurologist and Neurogeneticist
National Neuroscience Institute, King Fahad Medical City, Saudi Arabia

Dr. Alhashim obtained her Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) from King Faisal University in 2003, and then she obtained her Saudi Board and Arab Board of Pediatrics last 2008 after finishing her pediatric residency program in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
She obtained her certificate from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in Child Neurology (FRCPC) last 2015. She did a Neurogenetics fellowship in clinical and molecular genetics research at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
She is currently working as a consultant in pediatric neurology/neurogenetics at King Fahad Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Alhashim presented at several conferences at the national and international level.

Dr. Wagdy Al-Kadasi

MBBS, FRCS(Eng), EBNS, ABNS, JBNS
Paediatric Neurosurgery Specialist
Sidra Medicine, Qatar

After earning his medical degree (MBBS) from Sana'a University in 2009, Dr. Al-Kadasi completed his neurosurgery residency at the Royal Medical Services in Jordan, with training at King Hussein Cancer Center. Following completion of the Jordanian Board of Neurosurgery (JBNS) and the Arab Board of Neurosurgery (ABNS) certifications; he served as an assistant-consultant neurosurgeon at King Fahd Specialist Hospital in Dammam, Saudi Arabia before joining Sidra Medicine as a specialist in neurosurgery in 2020, he later completed a pediatric neurosurgery fellowship at Sidra Medicine.

Dr. Al-Kadasi further honed his expertise through rigorous training and certifications, including fellowships from the Royal College of Surgeons of England (FRCS) and the European Board of Neurological Surgery (FEBNS).

With over a decade of experience, Dr. Al-Kadasi is an active researcher and educator, involved in peer-reviewing for neurosurgical journals, has published several clinical studies and case reports, and has presented at national and international conferences.

Dr. Khalid Al-Kharazi

MD, MBA, MBBS
Senior Attending Physician, Division of Neurosurgery
Sidra Medicine, Qatar

Dr. Khalid Al-Kharazi is a senior pediatric neurosurgeon at Sidra Medicine. Dr. Al-Kharazi has experience in neurosurgery for almost 20 years. He worked in Canada, Germany, Jordan, and Yemen before joining the medical team in Qatar in 2014. Dr. Al-Kharazi holds certifications in neurosurgery from Canada, Germany, the UK, and Jordan. He was awarded a clinical fellowship in Pediatric neurosurgery from the University of British Columbia, BCCH Vancouver/ Canada). He is a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (UK). Dr. Al-Kharazi obtained the German board certificate after successfully completing his training in Vivantes Klinikum Neukölln/ Berlin. Dr. Al-Kharazi and his colleagues started some neurosurgical interventions that had never been performed in Qatar such as the minimally invasive approach in craniosynostosis surgery and epilepsy surgery. Dr. Al-Kharazi is a core faculty and site Director (Sidra) of the HMC Neurosurgery Residency Program. He is a member of the neurosurgery committee and an examiner in Qatar Board of Medical Specialties (QBMS). He is a holder of a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from The University of Manchester (UK).

Dr. Fatima Al-Maadid

MD
Pediatric Neurology Fellow
Sidra Medicine, Qatar

Dr. Amena Almotawaa

MD
Attending Physician, Division of Pediatric Neurology
Sidra Medicine, Qatar

Dr. Amena, MD is a graduate of the Arabian Gulf University School of Medicine, in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Dr. Amena trained at the Hamad General Hospital, where she completed her internship and then completed her residency in the pediatric department.

During her residency, she was able to provide high-quality care and consultation that resulted in the overall improvement in department patient satisfaction. Afterward, she completed a fellowship in pediatric neurology at Hamad General Hospital, in the pediatric department. Dr. Amena focused on children with neurological disorders and reevaluated several methods of therapy management.

Dr. Amena has been practicing in the Department of Pediatric Neurology at Hamad General Hospital in Qatar since 2007, one of the major governmental hospitals in Qatar. Her practice focuses on children with neurological disorders such as epilepsy, developmental delay, muscle disease, and headaches.

In addition to her role as a doctor and competency committee faculty member, Dr. Amena is active in a variety of pediatric neurology-related activities and programs.

Dr. Baker Alzidaneen

MD
Sidra Medicine, Qatar

Dr. Tayyba Anwar

MD
Assistant Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics
Children’s National Medical Center, Washington DC, USA

Tayyba Anwar, M.D., is an assistant professor of Neurology and Pediatrics at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, DC. She completed her pediatric neurology training and epilepsy fellowship at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC. She now serves as the program director of the epilepsy fellowship as well as the co-director of the Hemimegalencephaly program and the neonatal neurocritical care service at Children’s National Hospital. Her research interests include epilepsy outcomes and biomarkers of epilepsy following neonatal brain injury and outcomes following serial embolization in neonates with hemimegalencephaly and refractory seizures.

Dr. Ali Ayyad

MD, Facharzt
Senior Consultant in Neurosurgery, Cerebrovascular Neurosurgery, and Base of Skull.
Director of the Cerebrovascular and skull base unit in the Department of Neurosurgery.
Hamad Medical Hospital, Qatar

Current Post:
Senior Consultant in Neurosurgery, Cerebrovascular Neurosurgery and Base of Skull at Hamad Medical Corporation (Doha, Qatar)
Director of the Cerebrovascular and skull base unit in the Department of Neurosurgery at Hamad Medical Hospital.
Head of research committee in the Department of Neurosurgery at Hamad Medical Hospital.

Dr. Majid Aziz

MD
Consultant Paediatric Neurologist, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, UAE

Dr. Majid Aziz is a pediatric neurologist and epileptologist with expertise in complex epilepsy, epilepsy surgery and EEG. His other areas of interest are movement disorder, headache and stroke.

Dr. Aziz received his medical degree from Pakistan and trained in pediatrics and child neurology in the United Kingdom. He then completed a fellowship in movement disorder at Evelina Children’s Hospital, London and a second fellowship in pediatric epilepsy and EEG at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne. He has been working in SKMC, Abu Dhabi since 2019. Be fore joining SKMC he was working as a Consultant Paediatric Neurologist in Northern Children's Epilepsy Surgery Service at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, UK.

Dr. Sirajeddin Belkhair

MD, MHSc, FRCSC, FAANS
Senior Consultant of Neurosurgery
Head of Neurosurgery Department
Director of Neurosurgery Residency Program
Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar

Dr. Sirajeddin Belkhair is Head of Neurosurgery Department and Director of Neurosurgery Residency Program at Hamad Medical Corporation since January 2019, he is also Chairman of Qatari National Advisory Committee for Neurological tumors since September 2019, Dr. Sirajeddin joined Hamad medical corporation in July 2018 as senior consultant at department of neurosurgery, prior to that he practiced in United States of America (USA) as an assistant professor in neurosurgery department at Saint Louis University Hospital in Missouri and at Michigan state University in Michigan, Dr. Sirajeddin completed his neurosurgery residency training at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. In addition to that he completed two clinical fellowships from University of Toronto, Canada, first one was in open cerebrovascular neurosurgery and second was in complex spine surgery, this high quality training in North America enabled him to perform complex cerebrovascular and spine surgeries and advance neurosurgical treatment provided to patients of Hamad Medical Corporation, Dr. Sirajeddin also obtained a master degree in Clinical Epidemiology from University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.
In October 2023, Dr.Sirajeddin was elected as Vice president of Scientific Council of Arab Board of Neurosurgery.
Dr. Sirajeddin Belkhair published more than 40 publications in peer review journals, Dr. Sirajeddin has an essential role in advancing research at neurosurgery department at HMC and he is primary author in multiple research projects including randomized control trail that is currently being conducted by him and his team.

Dr. Tawfeg Ben Omran

MD, FRCPC, FCCMG
Division Chief, Genetic and Genomic Medicine, Sidra Medicine, Qatar
Senior Consultant, Department of Medical Genetics, HMC
Professor, Weill Cornell Medicine, Qatar

Dr. Tawfeg Ben-Omran is the Division Chief of Genetics and Genomic Medicine at Sidra Medicine, a women’s and children’s hospital in the State of Qatar.

Dr. Ben-Omran’s clinic provides comprehensive genetic services including clinical evaluation and risk assessment; genetic counseling; diagnosis and advanced management for a variety of genetic disorders in pediatric patients of all ages. The clinic also offers ongoing multidisciplinary care for patients with genetic conditions and helps them access resources and treatment programs personalized to their condition.

The clinic also offers genetic counseling in partnership with the Qatar National Premarital Genetic Screening Program. Other key services include preimplantation genetic diagnosis prenatal genetic testing and diagnosis and Inborn Errors of Metabolism.

Dr. Ruba Benini

Attending Physician, Division of Pediatric Neurology, Sidra Medicine, Qatar
Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medicine, Qatar

Dr. Ruba Benini is a Pediatric Neurologist/ Epileptologist. Dr. Benini is currently the Medical Director of the Neurodiagnostic Laboratory at Sidra Medicine. She is the Program Director of the Pediatric Neurology Fellowship Program at Sidra Medicine and serves as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Weill-Cornell Medicine, Qatar. She is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada (FRCPC). Dr. Benini did her PhD in Neuroscience in 2006 at the Montreal Neurological Institute in Canada. She obtained her medical degree in 2008 from McGill University, Montreal Canada, and later completed her pediatric neurology residency training in 2014 at McGill University Health Center in Montreal and a fellowship in Pediatric Epilepsy at Ste. Justine Hospital, University of Montreal in 2016. Since then she has worked as a pediatric neurologist and epilepsy expert at the Montreal Children's Hospital in Montreal and later at King Fahad's Medical City (KFMC) in Riyadh, KSA, prior to joining Sidra Medicine in 2017. Dr. Benini has a strong interest in pediatric epilepsy research and continues to work on a number of research projects aimed at elucidating the genetics of pediatric epilepsy with the ultimate goal of improving the lives of children with epilepsy.

Dr. Diana Bharucha-Goebel

MD
Director of the Neuromuscular Program
Associate Professor, Division of Neurology
Children’s National Medical Center, Washington DC, USA

Dr. Diana Bharucha-Goebel is Director of the Neuromuscular Program and Associate Professor in the Division of Neurology at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., and the Division of Pediatrics and Neurology at the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences. Dr. Bharucha-Goebel completed her medical training at Drexel University College of Medicine in 2007, followed by a General Pediatric Residency in 2009 and a Child Neurology Residency in 2012 both at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She completed a Neuromuscular Fellowship in 2013 at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Bharucha-Goebel is certified with the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) in Neurology with Special Qualification in Child Neurology.
In 2013, she was recruited to the Division of Neurology at Children’s National Hospital, Washington, DC, and concurrently brought on as a clinical research collaborator in the Neuromuscular and Neurogenetic Disorders of Childhood Section within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, where she works clinically with senior researcher, Dr. Carsten Bönnemann. Her work centers on early-onset neuromuscular diseases, with a particular focus on the evaluation and identification of disease-focused
outcome measures in rare diseases as it pertains to better understanding functional outcomes for clinical trial readiness. She led efforts for the clinical development of a phase I first-in-human gene transfer trial for individuals with giant axonal neuropathy, while concurrently performing a parallel natural history study to assess outcome measures in this disorder. This work has led to a heightened interest in clinical trial
readiness for neuromuscular disorders, in particular hereditary neuropathies. Dr. Bharucha-Goebel is also interested in better understanding how we efficiently and safely target the peripheral nervous system with viral-mediated gene transfer approaches, studying total vector genome dose, concurrent prophylactic immune modulation, and immune surveillance following gene transfer. She evaluates the impact of gene transfer and immune responses both in clinical trials and for those receiving commercially approved gene therapy products for diseases like spinal muscular atrophy and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Dr. Bharucha-Goebel is also actively involved within her institution and nationally in understanding the impact of therapeutic approaches on the care needs and evolving phenotype of individuals with spinal muscular atrophy.

Dr. Ricardo Branco

MD, PhD, FRCPCH
Attending Physician, Pediatric Critical Care Division
Sidra Medicine, Qatar

Dr. Branco joined Sidra Medicine in November 2018 as an Attending Physician in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). He Co-chairs the Clinical Effectiveness and Clinical Audit groups at Sidra Medicine. Dr. Branco trained in Brazil and the UK, where he obtained a PhD in Pediatrics at the University of Cambridge. He worked as a Consultant in Pediatric Intensive Care at Cambridge University Hospitals from 2011 to 2018. He has expertise in Pediatric Critical and Neurocritical care, with a research interest in the stress response to acute and critical illness. Dr. Branco has lectured at multiple international meetings and conferences.

Dr. Aravanan Chakkarapani

MBBS, MD, RCPS(Canada) Sub-Specialist Affiliate
Attending Physician, Division of Neonatology
Lead for Neonatal Clinical Research, Neuro-Critical Care, and NICU Clinical Audit
Sidra Medicine, Qatar

Dr. Aravanan Anbu Chakkarapani is a distinguished Attending Physician at Sidra Medicine and an Assistant Professor in Clinical Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine, Qatar. With an illustrious career spanning multiple countries and academic pursuits, he is a leader in neonatal-perinatal medicine.
Dr. Chakkarapani commenced his medical journey in India, where he completed his post-graduation in pediatrics. Following this, he relocated to Canada to deepen his expertise, undertaking Fellowships in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at McMaster University and the University of Toronto. During this time, he received additional training in neonatal transport medicine, earning his Sub-Specialist Affiliate in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 2016.
In 2020, Dr. Chakkarapani broadened his skill set by completing a specialized program in Neonatologist Performed Echocardiography (NPE), aligning his practice with European standards. Since joining Sidra Medicine on November 26, 2017, he has been instrumental in establishing groundbreaking programs in neonatal neuro-critical care, neonatal research and neonatal hemodynamics. His leadership extends to spearheading new approaches in Neurocritical and Cardiac care within Sidra Medicine’s NICU.
Recognized for his academic contributions, Dr. Chakkarapani leads the NICU Clinical Translational Research, Neonatal Neuro-Critical Care team and NICU Clinical Audit Program at Sidra and has been the Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator on several research grants, including ETHOS, DEFINE, and multi-center study projects.
A fervent advocate for education and mentorship, Dr. Chakkarapani has led over a hundred educational sessions, offering invaluable training to residents, fellows, nurses, and other healthcare professionals in the NICU. His extensive publication record can be accessed through his ORCiD and Google Scholar accounts (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5539-5770 Aravanan Anbu Chakkarapani - Google Scholar). With a career characterized by leadership, innovation, and education, Dr. Chakkarapani stands as a luminary in his field.

Dr. Thomas Chen

MD, PhD, FAANS
Director, Surgical Neuro-oncology
Director, Brain and Spine Tumor Research Group
Tenured Professor of Neurosurgery, Pathology, Orthopedic Surgery
USC Keck School of Medicine, USA

Dr. Thomas Chen is a tenured professor of neurosurgery, Director of Surgical Neuro-oncology at University of Southern California. Dr. Chen graduated Alpha Omega Alpha from the University of California, San Francisco in 1988. He obtained his residency in neurosurgery from USC. During his residency, he also received a PhD in tumor immunology from USC. He is also fellowship trained in spine surgery, allowing him to treat patients with spine cancer. He has been on the USC faculty since 1997.

Besides surgery, he also runs a translational research laboratory called the Glioma Research Group. He is currently CEO and Chief Scientific Officer for NeOnc Technologies, a company devoted to treating brain tumors.

Dr. Daniel Donoho

Pediatric Neurosurgeon

Daniel A. Donoho, M.D., received an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College (economics) and medical degree from SUNY- Stony Brook. Dr. Donoho completed his internship and neurological surgery residency at the University of Southern California. During his residency, he completed a fellowship in endoscopic, minimally disruptive surgery for tumors and other conditions of the skull base at Harvard Medical School. Following completion of his post-graduate training, he completed a subspecialty fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery at Texas Children’s Hospital and he was a clinical instructor in the Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. Donoho is an assistant professor of pediatric neurosurgery at George Washington University and a pediatric neurosurgery attending at the Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC.
His clinical interests include brain tumors, pituitary tumors and craniopharyngiomas, rathke’s cleft cysts, spinal tumors, hydrocephalus, myelomeningocele, spina bifida, Chiari malformation, spinal malformations and trauma and craniocervical spinal disorders.

Dr. Donoho has published over 50 manuscripts and book chapters and given many presentations and invited lectures on innovations in adult and pediatric brain and spinal disorders.
Dr. Donoho’s research group studies surgical education and technological innovations that improve surgical safety. He founded one of the first neurosurgical computer vision research groups with mentors and collaborators at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Mahmoud Fawzi

MBBCH, MD
Senior Attending Physician, Division of Pediatric Neurology
Sidra Medicine, Qatar
Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medicine, Qatar

Dr. Fawzi is a senior attending physician in pediatric neurology at Sidra Medicine and Hamad Hospital. He also serves as an assistant professor at Weill Cornell Medicine–Qatar. Previously, Dr. Mahmoud worked as a consultant in pediatric neurology at Hamad Hospital from 2006 until 2017. He then joined Sidra Medicine as a senior attending physician in pediatric neurology. He specializes in treating patients with muscle disease, multiple sclerosis, and tuberous sclerosis. He got research grants in congenital brain anomalies and muscle diseases, hereditary spastic paraplegia and microcephaly, and spinal muscular atrophy. He is widely published and has lectured at local and international conferences. Dr. Fawzi has extensive experience in pediatric neurology since 1995. He has more than 50 publications in international journals.

Dr. Faisal Hadid

MD
Pediatric Neurology Fellow
Sidra Medicine, Qatar

Dr. Dana Harrar

MD
Director, Neonatal and Childhood Stroke Program
Children's National Medical Center, Washington DC, USA
Associate Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics
The George Washington University School of Medicine, USA

Dr. Harrar is an Associate Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics at The George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. She serves as the director of the Pediatric Critical Care Neurology and Pediatric Stroke Programs at Children’s National Hospital. She attends on the Critical Care Neurology and ICU EEG services and oversees the outpatient stroke and ICU follow-up programs. She is board-certified in Neurology with Special Qualifications in Child Neurology, Clinical Neurophysiology, and Neurocritical Care. Research areas of interest include acute pediatric stroke and critical care EEG monitoring.

Dr. Alya Hasan

MD
Consultant Neurosurgeon
Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah Hospital, Kuwait

Medical Degree Health Science Center, Faculty of Medicine Kuwait 2000
Completion of Neurosurgical Residency & Neurosurgical Board Mcgill University, Montreal, Qc, Canada 2010
Pediatric Neurosurgery Fellowship Children's Colorado 2010-2011
Consultant Neurosurgeon Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah Hospital Current position

Mikki Hucket

Mikki Huckett holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Integrated Services for Children and Young People. She is a registered Health Play Specialist, practicing for 7 years prior to relocating to Qatar. Previously based in the UK, Mikki worked with multiple pediatric departments, including Bone Marrow Transplant, General Pediatrics, and outpatient clinics/Allergy Clinics. At Sidra Medicine, she works as a Child Life Specialist II in Neurology, Orthopedics, Cardiology, Endocrinology, and Pulmonology.

Mikki is passionate about creating resources to support patient’s education and understanding as well as art and sensory play to supplement her practice in supporting patient’s psychosocial needs.

Dr. Khalid Ibrahim

MD, MRCP, FRCPCH
Senior Attending Physician, Division of Pediatric Neurology
Sidra Medicine, Qatar

Dr. Khalid Ibrahim is a Senior Attending Pediatric Neurologist at Sidra Medicine and Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar.

Before joining Sidra Medicine, Dr. Ibrahim served as a Chief of the Pediatric Neurology Division at Hamad Hospital. He was also the former Pediatric Neurology Fellowship Program Director at Hamad Hospital. Former Clinical Lead for Epilepsy Service in North London, UK. Former Member of the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN).

Prof. Mohammed Jan

MD
Professor of Pediatrics, Consultant Pediatric Neurologist, and Clinical Neurophysiologist
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Mohammed M. Jan, Professor of Pediatrics, Consultant Pediatric Neurologist, and Clinical Neurophysiologist. Graduate of Dalhousie University in Canada with more than 100 international publications. Currently a senior member of the Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Tariq Kanaan

MD
Consultant Neurosurgeon and spine surgeon
Jordan

He is assigned as an Associate Professor at the School of Medicine at the University of Jordan.
He is currently the Head of the Neurosurgery Department at the Jordan University Hospital, and he is the founder and director of the Spine and Pain Management Unit as well.
He is also the Director of the Academic Program for Neurosurgery Residency at the School of Medicine and Jordan University Hospital, where he teaches medical students in the clinical years and trains residents to obtain their Board certificate in neurosurgery.

The Neurosurgery Residency Program that Dr. Kanaan runs is the longest and most difficult of all medical specialties, requiring six years of training, and is ranked as the best program in the Kingdom and among the top ten residency programs in the region.

Dr. Kanaan holds the following qualifications:
German Board in Neurosurgery from the University of Guttenberg in Mainz, Germany
German Fellowship in Endoscopic Pituitary Surgery
German Fellowship in Minimally Invasive and Endoscopic Spine Surgery
German Fellowship in Spinal Cord Tumor

Surgery
German Fellowship in Neurointensive Care
Jordanian Board in Neurosurgery.

Dr. Kanaan is currently :
Board Examiner at Jordan Medical Council.
Former examiner at the Arab Board Council.
President of Jordan Chapter of the International Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery (ISMISS).
Jordan Representative in the Federation of Arab Spine Societies (PANARAB SPINE).

Dr. Kanaan has several publications in distinguished medical and scientific journals and is currently supervising several graduation theses for medical students and neurosurgery residents.

In the private sector, Dr.Kanaan has established a prestigious clinic, MAINZ Neurosurgical CENTER for Advanced Brain, Spine, and Pain Management Surgery located at Farah Medical Campus in the Medical District in Jabal Amman. This center was established in association with
his close friend and colleague Dr. Ali Ayyad which provides high-quality consultation and service in the neurosurgical field.

Dr.Kanaan is also an active member and founder of the Jordan Spine Team (JoST) based at Al-Abdali Hospital in association with two distinguished spine surgeons; Dr. Motaz Jadaan and Dr. Mohammad Armouti which provides top-quality service in complex spine and minimally invasive spine surgery.

Ejaz Karim

EEG Senior Technologist, Sidra Medicine, Qatar

Ejaz Karim is a distinguished Registered EEG Technologist with over 12 years of experience in the field of neurodiagnostics. With a deep passion for understanding brain function and contributing to patient care, Ejaz has established himself as a knowledgeable and reliable expert in electroencephalography (EEG).

Dr. Husam Kayyali

MD, FAES
Chief of Pediatric Neurology Division at Sidra Medicine, Qatar
Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medicine, Qatar

Dr. Husam Kayyali is the Chief of the Pediatric Neurology Division at Sidra Medicine. He is also serving as the Director of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Program at Sidra Medicine.

Dr. Kayyali is Board Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Pediatric Neurology, Clinical Neurophysiology, and Epilepsy. Before joining Sidra Medicine, Dr. Kayyali was an Assistant Professor of Pediatric Neurology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and he co-established the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Missouri. Then he moved to King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Saudi Arabia where he served as the Head of the Pediatric Neurology Section, and the Director of the Pediatric Neurology Fellowship Program.

Dr. Robert Keating

Robert Keating, MD is currently the McCullough Distinguished Professor of Neurosurgery and Chief of Neurosurgery at the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC. Dr. Keating graduated from Georgetown University Medical School in 1983 and subsequently went to New York where he did his training in Neurosurgery at the Albert Einstein and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. A fellowship in Pediatric Neurosurgery as well as Craniofacial Surgery followed at Einstein / Montefiore in 1990. Subsequent to his training, Dr Keating served in the Navy and was stationed at the Oakland Naval Hospital from 1990-1994, during which time he served as the Chief from ’91 to ’94. He then returned briefly for 2 years to the Bronx where he was on staff at Montefiore Medical Center as well as the Bronx Municipal Hospital Center.

He came back to Washington in 1996 to join the faculty at the Children’s National Medical Center and later became Chief of the Division of Neurosurgery in 2003 and Professor of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics in 2008. His past appointments include the President of the Medical Staff at the Children’s National Medical Center as well as Head of Credentials and he currently maintains a busy practice of pediatric neurosurgery, with an emphasis on tumors, Chiari malformations, craniofacial reconstruction, spinal dysraphism, spasticity, and brachial plexus surgery.

As a member of the American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgery and the International Society of Pediatric Neurosurgery, he has published and presented extensively in the field. His publications include the previous texts, “An Atlas of Orbitocranial Surgery” and “Tumors of the Pediatric Nervous System” (2nd edition published in 2013 ) with current work on Neurosurgical Operative Atlas, (2nd ed.Kobets A, Goodrich JT, and Keating RF, Thieme) due for publication in 2024. He is a reviewer for numerous journals, including Pediatric Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery, Pediatrics, and Journal of Neuro-Oncology, and is on the Editorial Board of Child Nervous System. In addition, he is also Chair of, the Medical Advisory Committee on the Board of the American Syringomyelia Alliance Project as well as a founding member of the Posterior Fossa Society and maintains long-standing membership in the CNS, AANS, ASPN and is currently on the Executive Board of the ISPN.

Dr. Wesam Khalafallah

MD
Surgical Hospitalist at Division of Neurosurgery
Sidra Medicine, Qatar

Dr. Khalafallah worked at Sidra Medicine as a Neurosurgery Hospitalist since March 2019 and then he completed two years of Pediatric Neurosurgery Fellowship in June 2023.

He completed his residency training in Neurosurgery at Jordan University Hospital, and then he got his Jordanian Board of Neurosurgery in 2018 followed by Arab Board of Neurosurgery in 2019.

Dr. Khalafallah received his medical degree of Medicine from Cairo University, Egypt.

Dr. Khalafallah was a speaker at multiple pediatric conferences, and his clinical interest includes hydrocephalus and craniofacial correction surgeries.

Aeysha Bibi Khan

Occupational Therapist II, Sidra Medicine, Qatar

Occupational Therapist (OT) from South Africa. Currently fulfilling the role of a senior inpatient OT at Sidra Medicine, who leads in the Oncology and Complex Medical wards.

Dr. Youssef Kousa

MS, DO, PhD
Prenatal & Neonatal Neurologist,
Zickler Family Prenatal Pediatrics Institute & Division of Neurology,
Children’s National Medical Center, Washington DC, USA
Assistant Professor, Neurology, Pediatrics, and Genomics & Precision Medicine,
George Washington University, USA

Prof. Hilal Lashuel

Professor Hilal A. Lashuel received his B.Sc. degree in chemistry from the City University of New York in 1994 and completed his doctoral studies at Texas A&M University and the Scripps Research Institute in 2000. After obtaining his doctoral degree, he joined the Picower Institute for Medical Research in Long Island New York as a research. In 2001, he moved to Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital as a research fellow in the Center for Neurologic Diseases and was later promoted to an instructor in neurology at Harvard Medical School. In 2005 Prof. Lashuel moved Switzerland to join the Brain Mind Institute at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, EPFL) where he is now an Associate Professor of Neuroscience at the Brain Mind Institute and the director of the Laboratory of Molecular and Chemical Biology of Neurodegeneration.

Research in the Lashuel laboratory focuses on applying chemical biology approaches to elucidate the mechanisms of protein misfolding and aggregation and their contribution to neurodegenerative diseases.
In addition to his appointment at the EPFL, he spent a year as visiting professor at the Department of Neurological Sciences at Stanford University. He also served as the Executive Director of Qatar Biomedical Research and a member of the Board of Trustees for the Qatar Biobank and Qatar Genome Project from 2014-2016. He is the founder and CSO of ND BioSciences SA, a biotech company focusing on developing novel diagnostics and therapies to treat neurodegenerative diseases.

Roelisa Mabasa

Clinical Nurse Leader, Sidra Medicine, Qatar

Clinical Nurse Leader-Neurosurgery and Ophthalmology, Operating Room Sidra Medicine

Worked from three prestigious, well known, tertiary level state of the art, world-class Research, International Referral, Magnet recognized, JCIA Accredited following AORN standards Hospitals.
Leadership Highlights:
24 Years of experience Professional Registered Nurse in Operating Room includes:
✓ 10 years as Clinical Nurse Coordinator in Neurosurgery (Deputy) from King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Saudi Arabia -total of 1,600 Beds Capacity, with 23 Active Operating Room, 3 Neurosurgery O.R.
✓ Preceptor for Nurses and Nursing Students in Neurosurgery, specialized in Neurosurgery for 15 years
✓ 5 years as Charge Nurse (Floor Coordinator) in Operating Room from St. Luke Medical Center, Philippines- total 660 beds capacity with 12 Active O.R.
✓ Currently a Clinical Nurse Leader in Neurosurgery and Ophthalmology-Operating Room- Sidra Medicine, Qatar

Extra-Curricular Leadership:
▪ Awardee for Preceptor for the year 2014-2015-King Faisal Specialist Hospital, KSA
▪ Elected Alumni President-NDVNHS Batch 1995 (High School)-Cotabato City, Philippines
▪ Leadership Awardee-Student Body Council,1995-Cotabato City, Philippines
▪ Leadership Awardee, Loyalty Awardee, Service Awardee-Philippines Military Training-1995, Cotabato City, Philippines
▪ Cadet Major in Philippines Military Training 1995 Cotabato City, Philippines
▪ Consistent Honor Student from Elementary to College

Dr. Osma Muthaffar

MD
Consultant of Pediatric Neurology and Associate Professor
King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Consultant of Pediatric Neurology and Associate Professor at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Currently the Chairman of the Pediatric Neurology section at King Abdulaziz University. Executive Board Member of the Saudi Pediatric Neurology Society and Saudi Epilepsy Society.
Training: Toronto University Fellowship and Epilepsy, American Board of Clinical Neurophysiology, and Canadian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology certificates

Dr. Ian Pople

MB, ChB, MD, FRCS(SN), IFAANS
Chief of Neurosurgery Division at Sidra Medicine, Qatar
Associate Professor of Clinical Neurological Surgery, Weil Cornell Medicine, Qatar

Since starting his position as the Chief of Neurosurgery at Sidra Medicine in September 2018, Dr. Pople has led the development of a safe and sustainable emergency neurosurgery service for the children of Qatar, which also now offers world-class surgical programs in pediatric epilepsy and surgery for lower limb spasticity.

Prior to joining Sidra Medicine, Dr. Pople was Senior Pediatric Neurosurgeon at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, UK, where he led the development of the Epilepsy Surgery and SDR services for Children.

Dr. Pople is a graduate of Sheffield University, UK, and did his neurosurgical training in Leeds, London (Great Ormond Street Hospital) and Bristol prior to a fellowship in Pediatric Neurosurgery at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis USA.

He has a specialist interest in complex hydrocephalus, neuro-endoscopy, brain tumors, and tethered spinal cord. Throughout his career as a neurosurgeon, Dr. Pople has performed over 180 selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) procedures on children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy and over 2000 other pediatric neurosurgical procedures. He has carried out ground-breaking research into new treatments for hydrocephalus in premature infants and intends to continue this research in Qatar.

Gerald Romero

Sidra Medicine

Occupational Therapist II, Sidra Medicine, Qatar

Graduate of Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy from the Philippines. Wtih 20 years of experience in Adult and Pediatric Neurologic condition. Currently the OT inpatient lead for Surgical at Neurology ward at Sidra Medicine.

Dr. Abdulrahman Sabbagh

MBChB FRCSC
Associate Professor, Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia
Consultant Neurosurgeon, Epilepsy Surgeon and Pediatric Neurosurgeon
King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Dr. Abdulrahman J. Sabbagh MBChB FRCSC, is an associate professor and an esteemed consultant pediatric neurosurgeon at at King Abdulaziz University, with over 80 peer-reviewed publications and numerous book chapters. He has also co-authored five influential books in the field of neurosurgery. Dr. Sabbagh is a member of the Pediatric Neurosurgery Scientific Committee at the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS) and the former head, and current member, of the National Scientific Council for Neurosurgery at the SCFHS. He currently serves as the Associate Executive Director of Training at the SCFHS.
Regarded as a national expert in craniosynostosis surgery, Dr. Sabbagh is dedicated to multidisciplinary care for complex cranial cases, collaborating with various medical specialists to ensure comprehensive treatment plans.

Jenny Sacree

Clinical Nurse Leader
Sidra Medicine, Qatar

With more than 40 years of neuroscience experience, Jenny is presently the CNL for Movement disorders, rehabilitation medicine, and spines. She has been in Sidra Medicine for 5 years, completing the rest of her neuroscience experience in Bristol, UK. She is passionate about education and teaches neurosciences with the ISPN around the world.

Dr. Sarah Schlatterer

MD, PhD
Prenatal/Neonatal Neurologist
Medical Director, Neurocardiac Critical Care
Children's National Medical Center, Washington DC, USA

Dr. Sarah Schlatterer became a prenatal-neonatal neurologist in the Zickler Family Prenatal Pediatrics Institute at Children’s National Hospital in 2020. She completed her M.D. and Ph.D. degrees as part of the Medical Scientist Training Program and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 2013, and it was during this time that she discovered her passion for neurology and pediatrics. After completing a child neurology residency at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C. in 2018, she joined the Prenatal Pediatrics Institute as a prenatal neurology fellow to further her education and training in prenatal and neonatal neurology.

Dr. Schlatterer’s unique training at the intersection of maternal-child health, neurology, and pediatrics has cultivated her passion for clinical care and research. Her research interests include neurodevelopmental outcomes and brain injury in survivors of congenital heart disease and prevention of brain injury in the fetus and newborn. Her areas of clinical expertise include prenatal neurology, neonatal neurology, and neurocritical care.

Dr. Khalid Sidahmed

MD
Senior Attending Physician, Division of Pediatric Neurology
Sidra Medicine, Qatar

Dr. Khalid Mohamed is a Senior Attending Physician in Pediatric Neurology and assistant professor of Pediatrics.
He is a fully trained Pediatric Neurologist with an interest in complex disability and movement disorders with specialized skills in Gait analysis and Botulinum injection.
He was the lead clinician for clinical governance at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool from 2004-2006. He was the Chief of Pediatric Neurology in 2010.
He is an educator with a postgraduate diploma in medical education and is a leading authority in medical education in pediatrics and neurology and an ex-program director for both Pediatric and Neurology Residency/Fellowship programs.
He has been a coach and core faculty in the CCITP Quality Education and developed improvement projects focused on no-show reduction and referral management in outpatients, he is a certified level 1 coach with the microsystem academy at the Dartmouth Institute, in NH, USA; and he is an IHI international quality fellow. He has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed articles and has presented at the Middle East Forum and ISqua conferences.
His main area of interest in quality is access to care as well as coaching for improvement.

Dr. Gnanamurthy Sivakumar

MD
Consultant Neurosurgeon (Adult and Paediatric)
Leeds General Infirmary, United Kingdom

I am a full-time Consultant Neurosurgeon in the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, UK practising both Paediatric and Adult Neurosurgery. My Specialisation is Functional and Paediatric neurosurgery. I have been working as a Consultant for 12 years in the UK. I trained in Neurosurgery at the Nottingham University Hospitals, Queens Medical Centre. I did my fellowship in Functional Neurosurgery at the Walton Centre for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Liverpool, UK, and my Paediatric Fellowship at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK.

Dr. Farouq Thabet

MD, FAAP, ABPN
Attending Physician, Division of Pediatric Neurology
Sidra Medicine, Qatar
Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Weill-Cornell Medicine Qatar

Dr. Farouq Thabet is an Attending Pediatric Neurologist at Sidra Medicine and Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar. Before joining Sidra.

Dr. Thabet worked as a Consultant Pediatric Neurologist at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. He is an adjunct Assistant Professor of Specialty Medicine at Des Moines University in Iowa, USA. He is American Board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and the American Board of Pediatrics. Dr. Thabet is a member of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Dr. Dana Thaher

MD
Pediatric Neurology Fellow
Sidra Medicine, Qatar

Busisiwe Tshabalala

Speech Language Pathologist II, Sidra Medicine, Qatar

Busisiwe Tshabalala is an accomplished and dually qualified Speech Language Pathologist and Audiologist. She is the lead SLP in the area of acquired brain injury neurorehabilitation services, an interdisciplinary group of rehabilitation professionals, and other medical providers. In this capacity, she provides assessment, tracks progress, and provides neurorehabilitation to children who have experienced acute and post-acute neurological injury related to their diagnosis. She is actively involved in mentorship is the lead SLP in the SMA program and has contributed to the new graduate nursing education program at Sidra. Ms. Tshabalala’s style can be described as purpose-driven, people-centric, and outcome-oriented. 

Dr. Sarah Wright

DO, MS
Department of Neurology, Neuromuscular Team
Assistant Professor of Neurology and of Pediatrics
Children's National Medical Center, Washington DC, USA

Sarah Wright, D.O., M.S. completed her medical training at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine and her residency training in child neurology at the Children's Hospital of Montefiore in Bronx, NY. She then completed additional subspecialty fellowship training in clinical neurophysiology (neuromuscular focus) at Boston Children's Hospital and Lahey Health & Hospital in Boston, MA. Through this fellowship, she gained expertise in caring for both children and adults with nerve and muscle disorders, such as Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), and hereditary neuropathy. At Children's National Hospital in Washington, DC she has co-founded the DMD in-vivo genetic therapy treatment program. Her research focus includes investigating equitable access to care and patient education in DMD, cognition in SMA, as well as understanding the biomarkers and pathomechanisms of autoimmune Juvenile Myasthenia Gravis.

Dr. Khaled Zamel

MD, FACNS
Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology and Clinical Pediatrics
Weill Cornell Medicine, Qatar
Senior Neurology Consultant, Sidra Medicine, Qatar

Dr. Zamel is a Pediatric Neurologist, specializing in Epileptology and Clinical Neurophysiology.

Born and educated in Alexandria, Egypt, Dr. Zamel graduated from the School of Medicine, at Alexandria University.

Dr. Zamel completed his residency in pediatric and child neurology, as well as the fellowship in clinical neurophysiology & epilepsy, at the State University of New York.

Dr. Zamel holds dual American board certifications in both child neurology and clinical neurophysiology.

In January 2021, he assumed the role of Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology and Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar (WCM-Q). Prior to this, he held the positions of Chief of the division of Child Neurology and Senior Attending at Sidra Medicine in Doha, Qatar from 2014 onwards.

He worked as an epileptologist and clinical neurophysiologist for 14 years at Ohio State University and Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. His journey also saw him establish a pioneering Pediatric Neurology and Epilepsy unit in the United Arab Emirates. 

Dr. Zamel was honored with the Teacher of the Year Award by the child and adult neurology residents at Ohio State University.

He has many peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and has co-authored a textbook on neurophysiologic intra-operative monitoring.