Excellence Hall of Fame

Hayat is a world-leading biotechnologist, humanitarian, and a champion of science and technology, especially in the Middle East. Having written this profile, we asked an AI to provide a biography. It described her a “trailblazing, Saudi Arabian biotechnologist and medical scientist whose name is synonymous with scientific innovation and social impact.” Her journey has been one of breaking boundaries between the East and West, serving society, and seeking to help everyone – child, man or woman – irrespective of their religion, colour, or culture. Not fearing  and looking to find the good, encouraging humanity to work together.

She was born in Makkah (Mecca) and, when she finished her secondary education, wanted to study pharmacology so that she could find a cure for Asthma as her father was suffering from it. As there were no appropriate courses offered locally, she went to medical school while trying to convince her family to let her study overseas. As one of the youngest of eight children (the sixth child), given that it was culturally unacceptable for her to live abroad alone, she had a difficult time winning their support and it took two years to convince them. Eventually, she moved to England alone, while still very young. A country with a different culture, language, and set of educational standards, no university would accept her and many people both there and at home (except her family and, especially, her father) told her she would fail.

It took persistence, courage, and ingenuity – but she made her dreams real. She had to learn English, return to secondary school and take A-levels exams. She then went to study pharmacology in King’s College. Graduating in 1995, she earned a scholarship to study for a PhD in Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge. Afterward, she also studied Molecular Medicine at Oxford. As part of her research, she developed a patented device called a “Magnetic Acoustic Resonance Sensor” (MARS) which analyses body fluids, such as saliva, using light and ultrasound and, in 2001, she became the first woman from a GCC nation to earn a doctorate in biotechnology having defended her thesis on the novel electromagnetic-acoustic sensor.

Equipped with her doctorate and some seed funding, Hayat established Sonoptix Technologies to develop clinical diagnostics. While it existed, Sonoptix held some of her sensor patents (she has a total of 9, including a low-cost diagnostic tool for early detection of breast cancer) but funding was cut off as her investors turned out to be interested only in short-term gains.

She went on to become a Senior Biotechnology Research Scientist at Schlumberger Cambridge Research Centre and Honorary Research Fellow at Exeter University’s School of Biological and Chemical Science.

In 2006, having previously met Harvard Chemistry Professor George Whitesides at a conference in Japan, she contacted him while taking a course at MIT. He invited her to join his research group working on biotechnology for oil and water, fuel cells, and carbon management as well as clinical diagnostic sensor technology that could help improve the quality of life for people in underdeveloped countries.

Hayat spent 5 years at Harvard as visiting scholar, during which time she co-founded Paper Diagnostics Inc with Whitesides and, in 2008, obtained her commercialization of science and technology MBA at Harvard Business School.

Driven by her desire to link science and social impact, while doing her MBA she also co-founded the non-profit (at the time) organization Diagnostics For All, to produce affordable point-of-care diagnostic devices that can be used by people in impoverished regions, without a doctor, to detect diseases. It won the 2008 Harvard Business School’s social enterprise Business Plan Contest and also took first place in MIT’s $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. Her laboratory work at Harvard earned her a spot with four other scientists in a documentary film supported by Barak Obama’s Executive Office of the President of the United States in order to promote science education among young people.

In 2011, wanting to develop entrepreneurial ecosystems to transcend existing gaps between education and opportunity, Hayat launched the i2 Institute for Imagination and Ingenuity. Through fellowships, trainings and mentorships, it seeks to empower and inspire the next generation of innovators. Her i2 work encouraging young people earned her the 2014 Clinton Global Citizen Award for Leadership in Civil Society.

In 2012, Hayat was ranked the second most powerful Arab women in Saudi Arabia by Forbes, Newsweek listed her as one of their “150 Women Who Shake the World,” and was selected by UNESCO Director-General, Irina Bokova, as a Goodwill Ambassador to encourage STEM education “in recognition of her work to create an ecosystem of entrepreneurship and social innovation.” She was also named an Emerging Explorer by National Geographic, in recognition of her work in social innovation.

In 2013, she became one of the first ever women appointed to Saudi Arabia’s highest consultative body, the Shura Council, the main function of which is to advise the King on issues of national importance. She was also one of 25 global experts selected to join the newly formed UN Scientific Advisory Board, advising the UN’s leadership on science, technology and innovation for sustainable development.

In 2015, she was invited by UN Environment programme to be an Honorary Advisor for the Eye on Earth Summit and, the following year, she was appointed by the UN Secretary General to the Ten Members Group to support the technological facilitation mechanism for Sustainable Development Goals.

In 2017, Hayat was appointed Chief Science Adviser for the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), which promotes economic development in its member countries. Following this, in 2018, she launched the world’s first digital hub for the developing world, the bank’s Transform Fund, worth $500 million to support innovators in finding solutions to development challenges. The BBC listed her as one of their 100 Women of 2018.

In 2019, the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) awarded her one of its “TWAS Medal Lectures” in recognition of her achievements in biotechnology and her leading, inspirational role as a woman scientist putting innovation to the service of the developing world and promoting science education.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Hayat engaged with several global health partners to develop innovative solutions to strengthen the global supply of COVID-19 diagnostics, leveraging and building manufacturing capacity in IsDB member countries. She also provided advisory support for the establishment of biotechnology hubs aiming to leverage local innovations to improve local production capacity in essential medical health supplies.  Hayat has also led efforts in the joint initiative between IsDB and the International Atomic Energy Agency to save lives from breast and cervical cancer in low and middle-income countries.

In 2020, she was appointed Global Ambassador for the G20 Health and Development Partnership and . She has also served on the jury for the UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education. In 2021, she was appointed a member of the Global Ethical Finance Initiative’s Global Steering Group. The following year, she launched her global consulting firm, The Institute for Quality and was appointed a Jury member of the Felix Houphouet-Boigny-UNESCO Peace Prize.

Hayat believes in the power of science, technology and innovation to solve some of the world’s most pressing development challenges and she has worked for years to empower young women and Arab women to pursue their dreams. In 2023, she was made an Honorary Fellowship from University of Cambridge’s Newnham College (in recognition of her support of women around the world in pursuing STEM) and, last year, she was awarded the Leadership in Science and Technology Exceptional Women of Peace Award from the UN Peace Messenger Organisation, Pathways to Peace.