Six key figures at the forefront of Qatar’s healthcare sector: Abdulla bin Khalid al-Qahtani, Sheikha Ghalia bint Mohammed al-Thani, William Owen, Edward Ogata, Javid Sheikh and Hanan al-Kuwari
Abdulla bin Khalid al-Qahtani
Position: Public Health Minister; secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Health
Biography: Abdulla bin Khalid al-Qahtani holds the most senior posts in the Qatari health sector, as minister for public health and the secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Health, which is leading Qatar’s healthcare reform agenda. Previously, he was a board member of the National Health Authority, which was replaced by the Supreme Council in 2009. Al-Qahtani was promoted to minister the same year, after serving as an undersecretary in the Economy and Commerce Ministry. As undersecretary, he was also vice-chairman of the Competition Protection Committee and a board member of the Supreme Council for Economic Affairs and Investment. Al-Qahtani became a certified public accountant in the US in 1998. He has a bachelor’s degree in administration and economics from Qatar University and a master’s degree in accounting from The American University in Washington in the US.
Contact Tel: (+974) 4 407 0000
Sheikha Ghalia bint Mohammed al-Thani
Position: Chairwoman for the clinical steering planning committee of Sidra Medical and Research Centre
Biography: Sheikha Ghalia was Qatar’s health minister until 2009. She is a former chairwoman of the National Health Authority and is a member of the board of governors for Sidra Medical and Research Centre. She also chairs its clinical steering planning committee. She began working in the social sector in 1998, when she became a committee member and later chair of the National Committee for Children with Special Needs. During her time with the committee, the Shafallah Centre for Children with Special Needs was established. Sheikha Ghalia qualified as a doctor at the University of Jordan in 1987 and went on to specialise in paediatrics in London, where she attained her membership of the Royal College of Physicians in 1992.
Contact Tel: (+974) 4 404 2000
William Owen
Position: Chief executive officer (CEO), Sidra Medical and Research Centre
Biography: William Owen was appointed CEO of Qatar’s new specialist hospital for women and children, the Sidra Medical and Research Centre, in July 2012. Prior to this, he was president of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, America’s largest publicly funded academic health system. A professor of medicine, Owen has held posts at several US universities, including Duke, the University of Tennessee and Harvard Medical School. He was involved in the creation of the Duke-National University of Singapore medical school and was international medical director at the National Kidney Foundation of Singapore. Owen is a graduate of Phillips Academy, Brown University and Tufts University, and completed postgraduate training at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, all in the US.
Contact Tel: (+974) 4 404 2000
Edward Ogata
Position: Chief medical officer, Sidra Medical and Research Centre
Biography: Edward Ogata joined Sidra Medical and Research Centre at the same time as CEO William Owen in July 2012. Ogata held a variety of senior management positions prior to joining Sidra. Most recently, he was chief medical officer at Chicago’s Ann and Robert Lurie Children’s Hospital, part of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in the US. Previous roles at that hospital include associate vice-president of patient care services, associate chief of staff and head of neonatology. He has held several professorships in paediatrics, obstetrics, gynaecology and neonatology at Northwestern University Medical School. Ogata began his career in the US Army Medical Corps after graduating from Harvard University. He then received a medical doctorate from Northwestern University Medical School and also has a master’s degree in business administration
Contact Tel: (+974) 4 404 2000
Javid Sheikh
Position: Dean of Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q)
Biography: Javid Sheikh leads Qatar’s first medical school, a partnership between Qatar Foundation and New York’s Cornell University. He was promoted in January 2010 from his previous role as vice-dean for research and professor of psychiatry, which he held since early 2007. Before this, Sheikh worked at the US’ Stanford University School of Medicine in California, where he was an associate dean and professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences. During this time, he also served as chief of medical staff at Stanford affiliate VA Palo Alto Health Care System. On taking the helm of WCMC-Q, Sheikh initiated a five-year strategic plan to establish it as the leading academic medical institution in the Middle East and North Africa region. Sheikh is currently co-chair of the executive committee of Qatar Academic Health System initiative and a board member of Sidra Medical and Research Centre.
Contact Tel: (+974) 4 492 8805
Hanan al-Kuwari
Position: Managing director, Hamad Medical Corporation
Biography: Hanan al-Kuwari is the managing director of Hamad Medical Corporation, the main public healthcare provider in Qatar, which runs eight specialist hospitals. Under her leadership, Hamad Medical Corporation is transforming into an integrated academic health system. Al-Kuwari is also a member of the executive committee of Sidra Medical and Research Centre. In addition to this role, she holds several board and executive appointments, including being a member of the Supreme Council of Family Affairs and a member of the board of governors for the Doha Institute for Family Studies. Al-Kuwari has a doctorate in healthcare management from the Centre of Public Policy and Evaluation, Department of Government, at Brunel University in the UK. Al-Kuwari was named Arab Woman of the Year in Healthcare by the Arab Hospitals Federation in 2011.
Contact Tel: (+974) 4 439 4444
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