Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser

Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham PC KBE FRS

Sultana Afdhal

For more than 15 years, Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser has, through her various initiatives, played a key role in supporting the country’s National Vision. The Qatar National Vision is a far-reaching agenda to transform Qatar into a thriving, knowledge-based society by 2030. Sheikha Moza is a major contributor to education, health and social reforms in her country and is also active on the international stage, spearheading projects to promote peace and human development throughout the world.

Domestically, she serves as Chairperson of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), a private non-profit organisation founded in 1995. Its flagship project is Education City, which houses branch campuses of renowned international universities and institutions and is engaged in numerous scientific research and economic and social development projects.

QF has initiated a number of ambitious pursuits that aim to make Qatar a regional centre for excellence in healthcare. For example, in partnership with Imperial College London, it has set up a national biobank and the Qatar Robotics Surgery Centre.

Its most ambitious medical research initiative to date is the Sidra Medical and Research Centre – an academic hub that will have Sheikha Moza as its Chair. Funded with a QF endowment of $7.9 billion, Sidra will focus on pediatric and women’s health issues, and position Qatar to be a leader in scientific discovery.

It was also through the vision of Her Highness that the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) was created. She aspired to create a forum that dealt with communicating innovative solutions to solve international health challenges. Due to her ongoing commitment and passion for healthcare and innovation, QF is positioned as a leading proponent of WISH.

A healthy population is essential to a strong, prosperous society, and Sheikha Moza has helped to drive comprehensive reforms to provide all Qataris with access to world-class healthcare. As Vice Chair of the Supreme Council of Health from 2009-2014, Sheikha Moza has supported a restructuring of Qatar’s healthcare system. In 2010, the Council released the National Healthcare Strategy that laid out long-term goals for healthcare in Qatar. As part of this new vision, Sheikha Moza later launched the National Cancer Strategy, which is supporting a new cancer hospital and programmes for prevention and early detection.

Through her work, Sheikha Moza is contributing to establish Qatar as a centre for innovative healthcare systems, biomedical research and medical breakthroughs.

Sheikha Moza graduated from Qatar University with a degree in sociology and holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy in Islam from Hamad Bin Khalifa University. She has been awarded honorary doctorates from Virginia Commonwealth University, Texas A&M University, Carnegie Mellon University, Imperial College London and Georgetown University.