Moderators

Dr. Muhammad Tufail is a Consultant Pulmonologist at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC), Abu Dhabi, with over 19 years of experience in the field. He gained his CCT in Respiratory and Internal Medicine from London and completed an Interventional Pulmonology fellowship at Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, where he worked as a Consultant Pulmonologist for six years before moving to Abu Dhabi in 2022.

He was the lead for lung cancer and was nominated for three national awards for improving the quality of services. He also served as a member of the British Thoracic Society Council and its Education & Training Committee.

Dr. Al Nuaimi is the first  UAE national pediatric pulmonologist; worked to establish this medical  field in UAE  , currently based at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City SKMC, she is American, Canadian and European board certified in the field of pediatric pulmonary with  special interest in cystic fibrosis and chronic non CF bronchiectasis. 

She held multiple administrative posts including the chair of the department of pediatrics at Zayed military hospital (ZMH) and Deputy CMO at ZMH, and currently deputy CMO at Sheikh Khalifa medical city, she completed an Executive Masters in Healthcare Administration in 2010 with honors, and then a master degree in biomedical ethics and law from the Royal college of Ireland in 2014; she has special interest in military medical ethics and currently she chairs SEHA oversight IRB in Abu Dhabi. 

Dr.al Nuaimi has received Abu Dhabi medical distinction award for best clinical performance in 2012, she participated in teaching at many levels of undergraduate and post graduate, and she is involved in putting the guidelines for the health authority of Abu Dhabi for common respiratory diseases.

Omar Usmani MB BS, PhD, FHEA, FRCP FERS, is Professor of Respiratory Medicine and Consultant Physician at the National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI), Imperial College London (ICL), Royal Brompton Hospital and St Mary’s Hospital London.  

He is an International Authority on Aerosol Science and Inhalation Medicine whose research has fundamentally changed the understanding of therapeutic aerosol deposition and clinical effectiveness in inhaled drug delivery to the lungs.  

He received the 2005 NHLI Imperial College PhD Prize for the Best Thesis. In 2015, he was awarded the Thomas T Mercer Award recognising his International Research Excellence in Pharmaceutical Aerosols and Inhalable Materials. In 2019, he was awarded Fellowship of the European Respiratory Society (FERS).  

He is the ERS Science Council Chair and current Past-President of the International Society of Aerosols in Medicine (ISAM).

Professor Ashraf Alzaabi, MB, FRCPC, FCCP, EMHCA is a senior respiratory physician who served at Zayed Military Hospital in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from 2006 to 2025. He was elected President of the Emirates Thoracic Society (ETS) in February 2019. At Zayed Military Hospital, he served as Chief of Medicine in 2021, then as Chief Medical Officer in February 2022. In 2024, he was appointed Director of the Defence Health Support Administration (DHSA) at the UAE Ministry of Defence.

Professor Alzaabi graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1997, and completed six years of residency training in internal medicine and respirology at the University of Toronto, Canada (2000–2006). He is board-certified in both specialties in Canada and the United States.

Appointed Full Professor of Medicine at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University in 2018 (joining the faculty as Assistant Professor in 2007), he has been recognized with multiple awards, including the Murray Muirhead Award (2001) from the University of Toronto and the Abu Dhabi Medical Distinction Award in Clinical Performance (2013) from the then Health Authority–Abu Dhabi (HAAD).

As Director of Medical Education at Zayed Military Hospital (2007–2010), he secured Arab Board accreditation for the hospital’s first Internal Medicine Residency Program and established a formal academic affiliation with UAE University, designating the hospital as a teaching site for undergraduate and postgraduate training.

He completed an Executive Master in Health Care Administration at Zayed University in 2010 and chaired the Internal Medicine Examination Committee at HAAD from 2010 to 2014. Professor Alzaabi has published more than 40 peer-reviewed studies on asthma, COPD, and sleep-disordered breathing.

BSc, MBChB, MD, ABIM, ACCP
Dr. Mohammad Ghanbar is a Consultant Pulmonologist and Critical Care Physician with subspecialty expertise in pulmonary hypertension, interstitial lung disease, and lung transplantation. He graduated from the University of Manchester and completed his Internal Medicine training at Mount Sinai in New York, followed by advanced fellowship training at Johns Hopkins University, where he holds an appointment as Assistant Professor. Dr. Ghanbar currently co-leads the national initiative for lung transplantation in Kuwait and is actively assisting in developing the country’s respiratory research infrastructure.

Dr. Younis Al Balushi is a senior consultant pediatric pulmonologist and sleep physician at Royal hospital in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. He is the president of Oman Respiratory society. He obtained his MD certificate from Sultan Qaboos university and specialty certificate from Oman medical specialty Board before getting the Arab Board certificate in pediatrics in 2010. He then finished his fellowship in pediatric pulmonology and sleep medicine from Sydney children's hospital network in Sydney, Australia in 2015. 

Dr. Younis has publications in medical journals and good history of participations in local, regional and international conferences. 

Professor of Medicine at the department of Medicine , Kuwait University.  Consultant physician , respiratory division , Mubarak Al Kabeer hospital and Al Salam International Alasima hospital.   Dr. Behbehani obtained his medical degree from  Royal college of Surgeon, Ireland in 1988.  He completed residency training in Internal Medicine and fellowship training in respiratory  Medicine from University of British  Columbia, Vancouver , Canada in 1995. He was awarded in 1988 , The Dominic Corrigan Memorial  Prize for proficiency in Medicine, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland ( 1st place in Clinical medicine) as well as The Robert Mc’Donnell Memorial Prize for proficiency in Surgery, Beaumont hospital,  Dublin, Ireland ( 1st place in Surgery).  He was awarded Kuwait foundation for advancement of sciences (KFAS)  annual award for  publications in medical sciences 2006.   He has more than 60 original articles published in peer reveiwed indexed journals as well as several review articles and book chapters.   His reasearch interest mainly focus on epidemiology of asthma and he published several articles about sarcoidosis in Arab Population.  He dveloped an interest into Evidence based medicine through practice .    He is also one of the founding member of The Evidence based medicine society which is the under umberalla of Kuwait Meidical association. He is the current president of Kuwait Thoracic soceity.

Consultant Pulmonologist & Head of Pulmonary Medicine, Dubai Health Authority, UAE
Clinical Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Sharjah University Associate
Head of Emirates Allergy & Respiratory Society
Head of Gulf Thoracic
Advisory Board Member of Smart City Research Institute (SCRI) of The American University of Sharjah
Advisory Board Member of H.E. Minister of Advanced Science
Assistant Dean at the College of Medicine, Sharjah University, UAE (2015 - 2017)
Program Director for Care Model Innovation, DHA (2016 - 2018)
Research Fellow at Meakins Respiratory Centre, McGill University, Canada (2012 - 2015)

Dr. Bassam Mahboub is consultant pulmonologist and the head of pulmonary medicine unit. Served as program director for care model innovation in DHA from 2016 to 2018. American Board certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonology, and Allergy and Clinical Immunology, also has a Masters in Business Administration from Wolverhampton University.

Career goal is health innovation and respiratory care, leadership in academic and clinical sciences. Areas of interest are patient care, clinical teaching, translation research in airway diseases, and health innovation. Co-editor for Annals of Thoracic Medicine. He has authored several books in respiratory medicine and co-editor for several medical journals.

Dr. Bassam has received various recognitions for his role as physician, innovation leader, and researcher from Dubai Health Authority.

Chairman Internal Medicine Department at Ibn Nafees Hospital (Bahrain)  
Director of Sleep Laboratory at Ibn Nafees Hospital (Bahrain) 
Senior Lecturer at Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (Bahrain 2008-2013) 
Global Clinical Scholars Research Training (GCSRT) Program Graduate (Harvard Medical School, USA) 
Fellow of American College of Chest Physician 
Fellow of American Academy of Sleep Medicine 
Member of American Association of Bronchology 
Fellowship Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, University of Miami, Florida, USA 
Interventional Pulmonology, Cleveland Clinic, Ohio 
Arab Board Internal Medicine 

Dr. Manjush Karthika is an Associate Professor of Respiratory and Emergency Care at Liwa University, UAE. He is a clinical academic and researcher with expertise in acute and critical care, health professions education, and workforce development. His interests include Respiratory Critical Care, Extracorporeal Life Support, Thoracic Ultrasound, and Interprofessional Education. He is a Senior Fellow of Advance HE (SFHEA), a FAIMER Fellow (IFI Philadelphia), and currently serves as President of the Respiratory Care Group of the Emirates Thoracic Society. He is committed to advancing healthcare education, clinical excellence, and patient-centred care through scholarship, innovation, and leadership.

Dr. Goran is Consultant Pulmonologist and Internal Medicine, with 18 years’ experience. He is Danish Board Certified in Internal and Pulmonary Medicine, he did his fellowship at many tertiary centers at Copenhagen University Hospitals, Denmark.

Dr. Goran was Program Director of Adult Pulmonary Fellowship program from 2017 to 2021, likewise Consultant Pulmonologist and Internal Medicine, Clinical Education Leader for Adult Respiratory Medicine, at Zealand University Hospital, Roskilde, Denmark, a tertiary Respiratory Center. Clinically he worked specifically as Interventional Pulmonologist and Interstitial Lung Diseases Consultant through many years.

Dr. Goran has been engaged in Simulation training at Copenhagen Academy for Medical Education and Simulation as part of his job as Leading Clinical Educational Leader for Respiratory Medicine (CAMES).  

Dr. Goran worked also as HOD for Respiratory Diseases at Odense-Svedberg University Hospital, a tertiary Respiratory Center l, Odense, Denmark.

After Moving to UAE in May 2021, he worked as Consultant Pulmonologist at American Hospital Dubai. In February 2022 he joined the Department of Pulmonary, Sleep and Allergic diseases at Rashid Hospital, Dubai Health as Consultant Pulmonologist, where he is currently director of interventional pulmonology, interstitial lung diseases clinic, and adult respiratory fellowship program under The Saudi Commission of Health Specialties (SCFHS). He is member at ITC at Graduate Medical Education (GME) at Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences) MBRU.

Extensively engaged in Post Graduate Medical Education of internists, Residents and Fellows at Dubai Health. He is engaged in scientific research activities in the field of Lung Cancer Diagnostic, interventional Pulmonology and Interstitial Lung Diseases. In January 2025 he has been appointment as Clinical Associated Professor in Internal Medicine at Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, MBRU. Since November 2024 he has been elected as Member of the Board of Emirates Thoracic Society (ETS) for a period of 3 years from 2024-2027, appointed as Chairperson of Scientific Committee. He has been organizer of multiple scientific meetings, organizing scientific conference both nationally and internationally, participated as chairman, speaker and moderator. Currently member of multiple international scientific committees both in the field of Interventional Pulmonology and Interstitial Lung Diseases.

Currently he is also member of the Adult pulmonary Scientific Committee under National Institute for Health Specialties (NIHS), Emirati Board. Dr Goran living in Dubai with his Wife who is a gastric and oncoplastic breast surgeon in UAE together with their 2 children. 

Dr. Rachel Kaminski, a graduate of medicine, Imperial College London, 2006. She holds a respiratory BSC from the Royal Brompton Hospital. Dr. Kaminski, became a Respiratory Consultant in 2018 at Gloucestershire 

NHS Foundation Trust & was the Educational Lead of the department, lead for transitional care paediatrics and ran the severe asthma and bronchiectasis services. Since moving to Dubai in July, she has taken up the role of pulmonologist at Saudi-German Hospital and is already recognized as a Severe Asthma Expert handling complex cases and advising appropriate patients to biologics. 

Dr. Kaminski, sits on advisory boards for the airway epithelium and is continuing to speak nationally and internationally on asthma and COPD. 

Kaminski, has overseen several international research studies and has a recent publication in the Lancet.

Dr. Sulaiman Khadadah is a Consultant in Respirology, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, and Head of the Interventional Pulmonology Unit at Chest Diseases Hospital, Kuwait. He also serves as Head of the Department of Internal Medicine at Kuwait Hospital and is Secretary General and Treasurer of the Kuwait Thoracic Society. Dr. Khadadah completed the CETOC Fellowship in Interventional Pulmonology in 2019. His work focuses on advanced bronchoscopy, lung cancer, interstitial lung disease, and sleep medicine. He leads the development of interventional pulmonology and multidisciplinary respiratory services in Kuwait. 

Dr. Ramzi Khashkhusha graduated from Tripoli University, Libya and completed his Post-Graduate training in the UK. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and he has completed a CCT in Pulmonary and General Medicine. Dr. Khashkhusha previously worked as a Respiratory Consultant at the Mid-Yorkshire NHS Trust then joined Tawam hospital in 2013. He is a Faculty Member of the Internal Medicine Residency-Training Programme at Tawam Hospital. He has committed to presenting at Local and National Conferences. Dr. Ramzi has been involved in many audits and multiple research publications and presentations.