Dr. Sherif El-khamisy
Sherif is a ‘life’-scientist with over 25 years of experience in the higher education sector, focusing on research, innovation, translation, and commercialization. He is trained as a pharmacist followed by a PhD in genomic medicine from the University of Sussex, then a post-doctoral training at St Jude Hospital in the US. Working with the Nobel Laureate Zewail in Caltech, he established and directed one of the first medical genomics research centers in the MENA region. In 2018, he co-founded the Healthy Lifespan Institute at the University of Sheffield. Sherif moved to the University of Bradford in 2020 as the Director of the Institute of Cancer Therapeutics, then Associate Dean of Research, and then took up the Pro-Vice Chancellor role in 2024.
Sherif is responsible for the leadership and management of the University of Bradford Research and Innovation ecosystem. He has significant experience working in higher education here in the UK and in the MENA region, championing the quality of research and innovation, student experience, and engagement with the government and private sectors.
Sherif’s core technical background is in genomic medicine with a broader economic focus through working with senior executives and stakeholders. Sherif is a Wellcome Trust Investigator, a Fellow of the Lister Institute of Preventative Medicine, and sits on UKRI and Wellcome Trust funding panels. Sherif’s lab work in biology and medicine is published in journals such as Nature, Cell, and Science. Sherif is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and the Royal Society of Chemistry. His work has been recognized by AstraZeneca (UK), Caltech (USA), Awards of Excellence in Medical Sciences from the Shoman Foundation (Jordon), and the Wellcome Trust (UK).
Sherif is committed to value-led leadership, whereby building trust, equality, diversity, and inclusion are at the cornerstone of strategic developments to unlock the potential of people from all backgrounds.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bassam Alrifaee
Bassam Alrifaee is Professor for Adaptive Behavior of Autonomous Vehicles at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich, Germany. He received his Diploma in Computer Science from Ilmenau University of Technology and his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from RWTH Aachen University. His research focuses on connected and automated vehicles, software-defined vehicles, and experimental mobility platforms. He is the founder of the Cyber-Physical Mobility Lab (CPM Lab), an open research testbed adopted internationally. Prof. Alrifaee is an IEEE Senior Member and serves on the IEEE ITS Society Board of Governors. He has received several awards for research, advisory, and editorial contributions.
Dr. Shaden Sabouni
Shaden Sabouni is a Syrian researcher based in Germany since 2017. She completed her Master’s degree in Intercultural Communication and European Studies and recently submitted her PhD dissertation on Syrian refugee families in Germany. Her research focuses on forced displacement, family transformation, gender relations, and integration challenges among Syrian refugees. During her academic career, she taught at several universities, including Fulda University of Applied Sciences, Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, and University of Oxford, and has published articles on refugee integration and displacement. Shaden currently works at University of Koblenz as a program coordinator and with GIZ as a cultural and language trainer for the Middle East. She is also a board member of the Refugee Advisory Board in Germany and a consultant with Women in Refugee Law.
Dr. Dina ElHarouni
Dina ElHarouni is Group Leader in Computational Neurooncology and Evolutionary Precision Medicine at Heidelberg University Hospital and DKFZ. During her postdoctoral training at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, she advanced computational analyses of patient-derived cancer models through the Human Cancer Models Initiative and was recognized as a 2025 AACR Women in Cancer Research Awardee. She earned her PhD in Clinical Bioinformatics from DKFZ, where she developed innovative therapy-response scoring frameworks and multiomics biomarkers in pediatric tumors, alongside selection as a panelist & participant at the 70th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting. Her work integrates functional precision medicine, systems therapeutics, and clinical decision intelligence.
Dr. John Nassour
Dr.-Ing. habil. John Nassour is a senior researcher at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. His research focuses on wearable robotics, soft exoskeletons, physical intelligence, rehabilitation technologies, and biologically inspired robotic systems. He has extensive experience leading interdisciplinary research projects at the intersection of robotics, AI, sensing, and human-machine interaction. Dr. Nassour has worked in both Germany and France and has contributed to numerous international collaborations, scientific publications, and translational research initiatives. His current work emphasizes intelligent assistive and adaptive robotic systems for human support and augmentation, with particular interest in soft robotic technologies, sensor-driven interaction, and real-world applications in healthcare and assistive robotics.
Dr. Amr Alanwar
Amr Alanwar has been an Assistant Professor at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) since September 2023. Prior to this, he was an Assistant Professor at Constructor University in Bremen and a Postdoctoral Researcher at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. He received his Ph.D. in 2020 from the Cyber-Physical Systems Group at TUM. Before that, he was a research assistant at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). His research has been recognized with the Best Paper award in the Systems and Applications Track at HSCC/ICCPS in CPS week 2026, the Demonstration Paper Award at the IPSN in CPS week 2026, and as a two-time finalist in the Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship. He earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Ain Shams University, Egypt. His current research interests include safety, privacy, and security in cyber-physical systems, with a particular focus on reachability analysis, formal verification, and data-drive
Dr. Eya ALOUI
Dr. Eya Aloui is the Founder and CEO of ALBUPAD, a French deeptech biotech company developing next-generation albumin-based biomaterials for sustained and controlled drug delivery. A pharmacist and scientist by training, she combines expertise in biomaterials, pharmaceutical formulation, and translational drug delivery with strong entrepreneurial experience in building and scaling biotech innovation. She leads the company’s strategic development at the interface of science, intellectual property, regulatory strategy, industrialization, and business development. Her work focuses on transforming complex scientific innovation into clinically and industrially relevant therapeutic solutions.
Dr. Saria Almarzook
Dr. Saria Almarzook holds a PhD in Molecular Biology and Biodiversity from Humboldt University of Berlin, where her research focused on the genetic diversity of Arabian horses. She also earned a Master’s degree in Integrated Natural Resources Management from the same institution. Currently, she is a lecturer at Arden University, leading modules in planetary health, international healthcare systems, and undergraduate research. Her academic interests bridge molecular biology, public and planetary health, and health education. Dr. Almarzook is also pursuing a Master’s in Psychology with a focus on mental health in educational settings. In addition, she is actively engaged in translating and researching equine assisted therapy, exploring its therapeutic applications and expanding its accessibility through her work.
Dr. Dania Humaidan
Dr. Dania Humaidan is a neurology resident at the Department of Neurovascular Diseases, Tuebingen University Hospital, and a postdoctoral researcher at the Brain Networks and Plasticity Lab, Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, Tuebingen, Germany. She is a Clinician Scientist combining clinical training with interdisciplinary research at the intersection of artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and neurotechnology. Dr. Humaidan holds a medical degree and a PhD in Computer Science with a focus on Machine Learning from the International Max Planck Research School for Intelligent Systems (IMPRS-IS). Her research focuses on personalized, closed-loop non-invasive brain stimulation, and the application of machine learning to optimize neuromodulation and neurological rehabilitation.