Dr. Derek Mendonca is British and American trained and a British Board Certified Plastic Surgeon [FRCS Plastic Surgery] at Al Jalila Children’s and the UAE’s first and only trained paediatric plastic surgeon and consultant. Dr. Derek completed his Specialist Registrar Plastic Surgery training at the prestigious Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Birmingham, United Kingdom. He obtained the MRCS and FRCS (Plastic) qualification from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow, and is credentialed with the Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) in Plastic Surgery. He did a National Interface fellowship in Cosmetic Surgery in Leicester, England where he worked at the BUPA and Nuffield private hospitals network. Dr. Derek obtained an advanced fellowship in Craniofacial and Paediatric Plastic Surgery for 1 year at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, USA, one of America’s top three academic medical centres, whose hospitals (St. Louis Children’s and Barnes Jewish Hospital) are consistently ranked as one of America’s best hospitals.Prior to joining Al Jalila Children’s, Dr. Derek was Consultant Paediatric Plastic Surgeon at Cambridge University Foundation Hospital in Cambridge, England. Dr. Derek established a new department of craniofacial and plastic surgery in Bangalore, India for 6 years. He was the first surgeon to introduce endoscopic craniosynostosis surgery to South Asia. Dr. Derek maintains a keen academic interest with over 30 scientific publications and is a frequent speaker at national and international plastic surgery conferences.Dr. Derek is the author of the textbook: Childrens Plastic Surgery. He has 2 patent pending inventions in the field of cleft and craniofacial surgery, which are being further developed by the University of Cambridge. He is a reviewer and member of the Cochrane Wounds Group, Oxford and a Craniofacial surgery reviewer for two prestigious Plastic Surgery journals. Dr. Mendonca is an active member of the American Cleft Palate Craniofacial Assocation (ACPA), American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons [ASMS], British Association of Plastic Surgeons (BAPRAS), British Assocation of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), and a full member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons,Glasgow(RCPSG).Dr. Derek’s area of specialist interest is in complex craniomaxillofacial reconstruction, craniofacial distraction, craniosynostosis (endoscopic & open calvarial remodelling), facial fractures and trauma, cleft lip and palate surgery, full range of paediatric plastic surgery, ear and nose reconstruction, facial palsy reanimation surgery, oculoplastic surgery, paediatric hand and foot surgery and complex reconstruction surgery for burns and scars. Dr. Derek also offers expertise in congenital hand surgery, nerve surgery, brachial plexus surgery, burns and scar reconstruction and tendon transfer surgery. 

Dr. Ahmad is the Director of the Genomics Center at Al Jalila Children’s, and an Associate Professor of Genetics at Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences. He completed his doctoral studies in genetics at Dartmouth College, followed by a fellowship in molecular diagnostics at Dartmouth Medical School. In 2013, he joined Harvard Medical School where he completed his clinical molecular genetics fellowship and, in 2015, became board-certified by the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG). Dr. Abou Tayoun is a fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics. Prior to joining Al Jalila Children’s, he was a director in the Division of Genomic Diagnostics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and also an assistant professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. To support clinicians in various specialties at CHOP, Dr. Ahmad developed genomic sequencing-based diagnostic tests for a range of pediatric disorders. He also developed and published several tools and clinical assays involving next-generation sequencing and variant interpretation. Dr. Abou Tayoun serves on several international expert groups in his field. He is a co-chair of the Clinical Genome Resource (ClinGen) Hearing Loss Expert Group, a member of the ClinGen Sequence Variant Interpretation group, and also a member of American College of Genetics and Genomics Interpreting Sequence Variants workgroup. In those capacities, Dr. Abou Tayoun is working with international experts to establish guidelines and recommendations for sequence variant interpretation in genomic diagnostic settings. Dr. Abou Tayoun’s main research interests are centered around characterizing the genomic landscape of pediatric diseases in the Middle East, and cataloguing the normal genetic variation in this population. In addition, he is one of the leaders in driving national efforts to characterize the epidemiological and genomic characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 in the UAE, and to identify host genetics factors and RNA expression profiles modulating COVID-19 disease severity. 

Dr. Zeinab Alloub is a Consultant Neurodevelopmental Pediatrician at Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital.She graduated from Ain Shams University, Cairo and completed paediatric postgraduate training and specialization in the United Kingdom.With a career spanning over 18 years, she has vast experience in the assessment and management of children with a wide range of developmental, learning and behavioral difficulties. Her approach is holistic; looking at both the medical and psychosocial aspects of the child and family wellbeing. She adopts a family centered approach and empowers parents in the care of their children.Dr Alloub conducts evidence based assessments within a multidisciplinary model of service delivery .Conditions managed include : Autism Spectrum Disorder through a specifically dedicated Autism Program, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) , Behavioral sleep disturbances , Behavior problems in early childhood, such as tantrums and oppositional behaviors, Developmental and behavioural consequences of prematurity, Global Developmental delay, Habit disorders and Developmental aspects of genetic disorders, such as Down syndrome, Rett syndrome, Fragile X syndrome.Dr Alloub has presented at numerous international and national conferences as an expert in her field and plays an important role in residents education. Dr Alloub is an avid advocate for children with special needs and their families. Beyond the hospital setting, her service extends into the community through active involvement in parent support groups and voluntary organizations. She also take leading roles in raising awareness within the health and public sectors.

Dr. Anwar Alkhaja is Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon at Al Jalila Children’s with a sub specialization in Cleft lip and Palate surgery. He obtained his DDS from faculty of Medicine and Odontology, Umea University, Sweden in 1999 and was licensed to practice by Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare in march, 2000. He started his residency programme in Oral and Maxillofacial surgery and obtained the Swedish board certificate in July, 2007.He then when on to pursue a two-year fellowship programme in Cleft Lip and Palate Surgery at the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Gothenburg University, Sweden.After completion of his Fellowship in 2009 he returned to the UAE and has dedicated his clinical career to deliver care mainly to children born with cleft lip and palate deformity and paediatric maxillofacial surgery and also to set up protocols for management of infants and children with upper airway obstruction.

Dr. Haitham is the head of Neurosciences Centre at Al Jalila Children’s and Paediatric Neurorehabilitation Consultant. In 1994, he graduated from the University of Khartoum, Sudan, with distinction and University Prize in Paediatrics, and then completed all his general and specialist paediatric training in the UK. Before joining Al Jalila Children’s, he was the head of the Child Development and Paediatric Rehabilitation section at Hamad Medical Corporation in Qatar and prior to that, was a consultant at Great Ormond Street Hospital and Islington in London, UK.He is a fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, UK. He also held academic appointments at Queen Mary, University of London and then a senior lecturer at the Institute of Child Health, University College London. He was also an associate Professor of Clinical Paediatrics at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar.Dr. Haitham’s area of clinical interest includes cerebral palsy, spina bifida, brain injury and neurodevelopmental disabilities. He has participated in several conferences and symposiums regionally, nationally and internationally. He has published in peer-review journals.