Dr. Malak Abed Althagafi: Researcher

Dr. Malak Abed Althagafi currently serving as the chairperson of the Genomics Research Department in King Fahad Medical City in RIyadh, and also serves as a medical director at The International Holding Company of KFSH&RC’s molecular and diagnostic lab.

Diagnosed with a rare autosomal recessive disorder, Dr. Malak spent most of her early years receiving treatment from Dr. Nadia Awni Sakati, the well-known senior pediatrician and consultant for the Genetics Research Center in King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSH&RC).

It was Dr. Nadia’s tenacity to serve her patients that Dr. Malak admired as a child, ultimately driving her decision to become. She was eventually selected for the King Abdullah Scholarship Program in 2010 as an outstanding medical student. Fast-forward to today, she’s currently serving as the chairperson of Genomics Research Department at King Fahad Medical City (KFMC) and as a Director at KFSH&RC in the subspecialty of molecular genetics and neuropathology. She also holds the designation of Assistant Research Professor at King Abdulaziz City of Science and Technology (KACST) and is a part-time faculty member at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Malak takes every day as a gift to work on medical problems whose solutions would lead to better health for individuals. She finds it rewarding to work with incredibly strong and resilient young adults at the research laboratories. Aspiring to make medical treatment more accessible and advanced, she wishes to bring forth precision medicine and a national screening program for inherited cancers syndrome.

Dr. Malak believes that leaders are meant to give others a platform. Leading by taking pride in the achievements of her juniors as her own, she advises the younger generation of women to lean in, learn more, and lead by example, and to stop expecting everything ‘served to them on a plate.’

Twitter: malakabed