Dr. Hamdi Mbarek
Research and Data Analytics Director, Qatar Precision Health Institute | Twin Genetics & Precision Health Expert | Member, WHO Science Council
Dr. Hamdi Mbarek is the Research and Data Analytics Director at Qatar Precision Health Institute (QPHI) and a member of the WHO Science Council, which advises the WHO Director-General on high-priority scientific developments and emerging technologies shaping the future of global health. He is the first Qatar-based scientist appointed to the Council.
Dr. Mbarek's appointment to the WHO Science Council is notable for its scope: his declared areas of expertise - Human Genomics, Population Genomics, Precision Health, Multi-omics and Health Data Analytics, and Genomic Medicine - are, per WHO Council membership profiles, unique among current members. Through this role, he contributes advice to the WHO Director-General on emerging developments in these fields and their implications for future health policy and equitable global implementation.
Dr. Mbarek leads the international Twinning Genetics Consortium, studying the genetics of twinning and birth weight in twins. After 30 years of research, he became the first scientist to identify genes responsible for dizygotic twinning; his 2016 paper was cited by media in 40+ countries and named among the best genetics research published in the American Journal of Human Genetics (2015–2016). He was nominated for the Prix Galien Research Award in 2019.
An assistant professor with a strong molecular genetics background, Dr. Mbarek taught human molecular genetics, omics, and twin/human genetics research at VU University Amsterdam, and built an extensive lab network across Africa, Europe, and Asia.
He holds a PhD in molecular and cellular biology from the University of Évry Val d'Essonne (Paris, France), with postdoctoral research on complex-disease genomics at the University of Tokyo and on the genetics of psychiatric disease and addiction at VU University Amsterdam.