Khalid Fakhro

As the CRO for Sidra Medicine, Dr Fakhro is responsible for designing and implementing the healthcare organisation’s ambitious research strategy to advance precision medicine in Qatar. The strategy aims to place Sidra Medicine among the top destinations for personalised care in the world; leveraging next-generation technologies to enhance disease diagnosis and implement advanced therapies for patients.

Prior to being appointed as the CRO, he led the Human Genetics Department at Sidra Medicine and was the inaugural director of precision medicine, heading an ambitious programme where research in genomics and personalised medicine become embedded in the heart of Sidra Medicine’s academic medical enterprise; with a focus on national priority conditions, such as genetic diseases, autism spectrum disorder, and diabetes. Dr Fakhro joined Sidra Medicine in 2014.

Under Dr Fakhro’s leadership, scientists in the Research Branch at Sidra Medicine, have made important strides to improve diagnosis of rare genetic conditions. They have also contributed towards Qatar’s efforts to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, through the development of new testing methods and the publication of studies in conjunction with international collaborators.

In addition to his new role as the CRO, Dr Fakhro continues to run his own laboratory, having won over $5mn in international grants, and published landmark studies on the genetic structure of Qatar, including the discovery of many novel disease-causing genes in the local population.

Dr Fakhro is also involved in capacity building and education via adjunct faculty appointments at Weill-Cornell Medicine-Qatar and at Hamad bin Khalifa University, where he teaches classes and mentors the next generation of Master's and PhD students in human genetics and genomic medicine.