Hayat Sindi
Who is She?
Hayat Sindi, PhD Visiting Scholar, Harvard University Co-Founder, Director and Chair of International Science and Business Affairs Currently a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University, with Professor George Whitesides at the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Dr. Sindi’s primary objective and focus is to develop and deploy technology to developing areas of the world to improve healthcare. Dr. Sindi is a member of British Top Young Researcher at House of Commons. She was awarded the Young Professional Award by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Arab Student Organization (MIT-ASO). She was also chosen to address King Abdullah Ben Abdul Aziz at the National Dialogue Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Dr. Sindi earned her Ph.D from Cambridge University, where she was appointed as Senior Lecturer at the International school of Medicine, specializing in Pre-Clinical Education and Public Affairs of Cambridge Overseas Medical Programme. Dr. Sindi was recently named a PopTech Social Innovation Fellow. PopTech Social Innovation Fellows are high potential young leaders with new approaches poised for transformational impact.
Hayat Sindi :
Hayat Sindi is a Saudi medical researcher who was born in Mecca. She has invented a machine combining the effects of light and ultra-sound for use in biotechnology.
The new device very accurately chooses the suitable medications in dealing with different cancers. It reveals the protein or the signification of cancer, which is difficult to do with the means that are currently available now. The machine also has uses in environmental preservation projects, has applications in research by astronauts and is simple to use. Her major project is being carried out in partnership with the universities of Exeter and Cambridge.
Her Journey :
After graduating with BA in pharmacology from Kings College and beginning research in the science of medicine and its compounds, Dr. Sindi I needed an accurate machine to assist in research. “I decided to move from pharmacology to physics and,” she said “I applied for a grant at Cambridge University.”
Initially hampered by lack of scientific background, she managed to convince them of her ability to succeed and so she I began from the bottom of the ladder. “They supported me until I got a Ph.D in biotechnology and I’m still working at Schlumberger lab research center in Cambridge where I produced the device.”
Dr. Sindi attributes her flare for biotechnology to her love of its complexity and its seminal position among other disciplines including engineering, genetics, physics, and chemistry.
Dr. Sindi is unique in that she is not the only Arab woman in the field, but the only woman in the world.
The Beginning :
To get to where she is, the journey has been tough. Her father, not a wealthy man, was committed that she received the best education.
After she graduated from high school in Saudi Arabia she enrolled in the Medical College. “I have loved research since I was a child but in order to make my Dream come true I needed to travel abroad. That was an unacceptable socially and difficult financially. She was the oldest of 8 siblings girls don’t get scholarships.
For two years, this restricted her, but when my parents saw how unhappy I was they trusted me and did all that they could to enable me to go.
In Britain, they didn’t recognize her degree so she had to study from secondary level again. For a year she studied long hours in a small unheated room. “Still, I kept my faith and beliefs as a Muslim girl. When I first started at Cambridge a well-known scientist told me that I’d fail unless I let go of my cover ‘hijab’ and changed my ways. He gave me three months to fail.”
By Nouran Radwan
References:
http://hayatsindi.blogspot.com/
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عبده موسى باتيل
جزاك الله خير الجزاء
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