Scientific Committee

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.

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.   

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. Yasser Madani is a UK-Board Certified Physician in Pulmonology and Internal Medicine. He is a Consultant Pulmonologist at Healthpoint Hospital, Mubadala Health, Abu Dhabi. He trained in London working across various university teaching and tertiary hospitals such as Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals. He is a Member of the Royal College of Physicians (UK). He held the position of Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at Brunel Medical School in London. 

Dr. Samir Naik is a Consultant Pulmonologist and Head of Department at King's College Hospital London, Dubai. He did his initial graduation and residency in respiratory diseases from India and then moved to the United Kingdom to complete his membership exams followed by CCST in Pulmonology and General Internal Medicine from the Southwest London Deanery. He has been working as a Consultant in Pulmonology since 2014 and has been Departmental Head, leading various services for the trust and advisor for the Primary Care Group. His subspecialty interests are asthma and airways disease, interventional pulmonology, sleep medicine, pleural diseases, and tuberculosis / respiratory infections.  He is also a keen educator and was the Royal College Tutor for the Medical Trainees in the United Kingdom, Tutor for the Physician Associates.  He was an Honorary Clinical Lecturer for Queen Mary’s University London School of Medicine and currently Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor at MBRU University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU) and Gulf Medical University (GMU). He has been involved in research work as well as various abstracts and studies. 

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 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 Master’s in Healthcare Administration in 2010 with honors, and then a Master’s degree in Biomedical Ethics and Law from the Royal College of Ireland in 2014; she has special interest in military medical ethics and currently chairs SEHA Oversight IRB in Abu Dhabi.

Dr. Al Nuaimi has received the Abu Dhabi Medical Distinction Award for Best Clinical Performance in 2012. She participated in teaching at many levels of undergraduate and postgraduate, and she is involved in putting the guidelines for the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi for common respiratory diseases.

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. Marwan Najib is a Consultant Pulmonologist and Division Head with over 25 years’ experience across Respiratory Medicine. He completed his medical training and fellowship in the UK and currently is a Consultant Physician in Respiratory Medicine at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, Abu Dhabi, UAE, with previous clinical experience in the United Kingdom. Dr. Marwan holds a Doctor of Medicine (MD) and is also a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP). He has special interest in treating severe asthma and Interventional Pulmonary Medicine.

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. 

Dr. Saniya Khan, MD, is a Staff Physician in the Respiratory Institute at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. Prior to joining Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, she was an Academic Assistant Professor and Consultant Pulmonary & Critical Care Physician at the Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, US and its affiliated hospitals. 

During this time, Dr. Khan held active responsibilities in the undergraduate curriculum development for respiratory medicine at the university, along with active teaching and demonstration labs for medical students. She also served as an Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS) instructor and supervised the pulmonary clerkship for medical students.
Dr. Khan has received awards and recognition for her teaching and mentoring. She has mentored medical residents with publications and presentations in accredited forums, advancing their knowledge and interest in the field of pulmonary and critical care medicine. 

Dr. Khan also practices general pulmonary medicine with special interest in advanced lung diseases, including, but not limited to, interstitial lung diseases, connective tissues diseases and granulomatous lung diseases. In addition, she specializes in and actively practices critical care medicine and has overseen initiation and implementation of quality initiatives in critical care.
Dr. Khan resides in Abu Dhabi with her husband and two daughters. Her wider interests include traveling, music, exploring various cultures and the arts. She avidly practices stott pilates.​ 

Dr. Manjush Karthika is an Associate Professor of Respiratory Care at Batterjee Medical College, Dubai. 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.