Personal information
Biography
I am an MD from Constantine Medical School and board equivalent in Critical Care Medicine, holder of a Habilitation a Diriger des Recherches (HDR) from Xavier Bichat Medical School, University Paris VII.
I worked as an intensivist for eight years in university hospitals in Paris before moving to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). I joined King Faisal Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 1986. I occupied several positions, including head of the medical-surgical intensive care unit, principal scientist, and Chair of the department of comparative medicine. I joined King Abdullah International Medical Research Center in 2010 to present as Chair of the Department of Experimental Medicine and consultant intensivist.
In parallel to my clinical activities, my research started in Paris and covered different aspects of critical illnesses. In Saudi Arabia, I was asked to work in Mecca during the pilgrimage in the desert climate Mecca in July 1986, where I witnessed the deaths of hundreds of patients with heatstroke in a few days. This experience has shifted my research focus to heat illnesses, particularly heat exhaustion and heatstroke. Since then, I have acquired a unique clinical experience managing patients with heat illnesses. I have also conducted translational research, including randomized clinical trials, developing a nonhuman primate heatstroke model, and testing novel therapeutic targets. I have also performed systematic reviews and metanalysis that served as the framework for the WHO's current preventive public health strategy. The findings of this research were recapitulated in a review paper in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2002 and, more recently, in Nature Reviews Primer diseases in 2022. Stanford University has ranked me in the top 2% of the most cited researcher in 2021.
I have two patents by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This includes an "Artificial hypothalamus for body temperature regulation" in 2017 and a "Method of regulating body temperature." A proof of concept (POC) carried out in collaboration with a local industrial partner demonstrated that the proposed device (artificial hypothalamus) and a next-generation cooling bed based on these patents are feasible, with the realistic prospect of becoming an innovative medical device.
I was invited by the WHO European Center for Environment and Health in 2005 to participate in the Euro-heat project, which aimed to protect the population from heat waves. I chaired the work package on "Evidence-based framework for health interventions in a heatwave and medical treatment practice." I was commissioned to write the preventive and therapeutic strategies for facing extreme heat. I was also among the group of experts contributing to the "Global Research Priorities to Protect Health from Climate Changes" organized by WHO in Madrid in 2008.
I am currently the Principal Investigator of a funded megaproject using a multifaceted approach: a) a system biology approach, including genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, to identify specific signatures for the diagnosis or prognosis of heatstroke. b) A genome-wide association study to investigate the genetic determinants of heatstroke that could influence (increase susceptibility or tolerance) heatstroke biology. c) A research on epigenetics and gene–environmental heat interactions that would enhance individual risk prediction to extreme heat. These investigations would provide more precise data for targeted prevention and better protection of population health during exposure to extreme heat.
Activities
Employment (2)
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Works (50 of 132)
10.1016/S1473-3099(11)70293-6
10.1097/CCM.0b013e3182387bef
10.1371/journal.pone.0044100
10.1186/cc10420
10.1007/s12192-010-0172-3
10.1161/ATVBAHA.107.158709
10.1161/ATVBAHA.107.161737
10.1186/cc5910
10.1097/01.shk.0000246903.40142.aa
10.1001/archinte.167.20.ira70009
10.1097/01.CCM.0000208354.85490.45