Dr. Mariam Matar, the Emirati scientist, is one of the UAE’s finest public servants. After working in several public health positions, Matar launched a series of outreach initiatives, including “UAE Free of Thalassemia 2012”. She has also launched the UAE Down’s Syndrome Association in 2005 and the UAE Genetic Diseases Association in 2006, through which she has been able to spread awareness regarding the risks of genetic diseases and specifically Thalassemia⁽¹⁾, which is a common genetic disorder in the UAE.

Virginia Apgar is a scientist who is believed to have changed the face of medicine significantly by her contributions in the field of anesthesiology and neonatology. The American physician is best known for developing the Apgar Newborn Scoring System, also known as the Apgar Score; a simple, quick method for judging newborn viability. The newborn’s appearance color, reflex irritability, muscle tone, and respiration are assessed one minute after birth and again after five minutes; low scores indicate possible health issues. Her test has saved countless infants, laid the foundations of neonatology, and discovered potentially grave conditions. She was one of Columbia University’s first female MDs and one of the first American women to specialize in anesthesia.

Summer is on; the weather is getting really hot. Since we are in a vacation season, we will be going on picnics or we will be enjoying the beach, but what food should we eat to stay fresh and cool?

Despite the warm sunshine and the much anticipated freedom that accompanies summertime, many people can actually feel more depressed during the summer. 

Alice Catherine Evans was an outstanding microbiologist who made one of the most medically important discoveries of the 20^th century. She is well-recognized for establishing that humans are infected by the once-common, painful disease brucellosis from raw cow and goat milk. Brucellosis, a recurrent disease also known as Malta or undulant fever, causes shooting pain in the joints, fever, and depression. For years, her research findings and results were scorned and ignored because of her gender and because she did not have a doctorate degree. She lobbied successfully for the pasteurization of all milk and lived to see the disease fall into obscurity.

From the early ages to this day, medicine has experienced a huge development; each civilization has made its own contribution to the development of medicine and health care practices. Arab scientists, who were once widely known for their excellence in all fields of science, significantly improved medical care. With their mastery in chemistry, biology, and dissection, Muslim physicians proved their abilities in all the fields of medicine.

Inspired by his father, Magdi Yacoub decided to be a doctor, and the death of his aunt due to a heart disease motivated him to specialize as a cardiac surgeon. He studied medicine at Cairo University, then he moved to London. After more than 40 years of hard work and success, Dr. Magdi Yacoub is now one of the world’s leading cardiac surgeons. He was awarded the UK Order of Merit and knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to medicine and surgery, becoming the first Egyptian to receive this prestigious award.

Al-Razi, known as “Rhazes” in the West, was a physician, philosopher, and scholar who made fundamental contributions to many scientific fields, especially medicine, pioneering in the fields of pediatrics, obstetrics, and ophthalmology. A special feature of his medical system was that he favored cure through correct and regulated food, avoiding excessive use of chemical drugs. Moreover, he tested remedies on animals in order to evaluate their effects before using them on humans.

The pioneer of modern surgery, known in the West as “Abulcasis”, Abu al-Qasim Al-Zahrawi was not just a pioneer in surgical innovation; he was also a great teacher whose medical texts had shaped the European surgical procedures up until the Renaissance and later.

Psychological disorders are as old as Man himself. In Ancient Times, it was believed they happened due to supernatural powers, evil spirits, and black magic. Consequently, they were treated by charms, amulets, and spells, according to the spiritual and social beliefs.