Dr. Wadha A. Al-Muftah

Dr. Wadha A. Al-Muftah, MD, PhD is a physician-scientist and precision-health leader in Qatar. She is one of the founding leaders of the Qatar Genome Programme and has played a major role in developing Qatar's national genomics and precision-health initiatives.

She has served as Senior Director of the Genome Program at the Qatar Precision Health Institute (QPHI), Qatar Foundation, where she has led strategic initiatives involving genomic medicine, genome interpretation, clinical implementation, and the responsible return of genomic findings. In this role, she has worked closely with organizations including Hamad Medical Corporation, Sidra Medicine, the Ministry of Public Health, and Primary Health Care Corporation.

Dr. Al-Muftah earned her PhD in Clinical Research from Imperial College London through the Qatar Research Leadership Program. Her doctoral research investigated the genetic, epigenetic, and environmental determinants of type 2 diabetes in Qatari families. Her scientific work has contributed to research in population genomics, diabetes, pharmacogenomics, and precision medicine.

As Senior Director of the Qatar Genome Programme, she has been involved in the development of one of the region's major population-genomics initiatives. At the launch of QPHI, she reported that the Qatar Genome Programme had surpassed 40,000 whole genomes sequenced, supporting research and the implementation of precision healthcare in Qatar.

She has also contributed to the integration of genomics into clinical practice, including projects investigating pharmacogenetic testing and its impact on cardiovascular medications and clinical implementation of preemptive pharmacogenomics-guided prescribing.