The Emerging Explorer, Hayat Sindi

Hayat Sindi is a Saudi scientist and researcher. She is the owner of the important project entitled “Diagnosis for All.” She is a member of the Shura Council in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and specifically one of the first female members of the council. Hayat Sindi is the first Arab woman to obtain a Ph.D. in biotechnology from the University of Cambridge, UK. Thanks to her excellence and persistence, Sindi was able to reach an advanced scientific rank worldwide. One of her most important scientific discoveries is the sound and magnetic wave sensor, which can determine the medicine needed by the human body and is used by astronauts to measure sugar levels and blood pressure in their bodies. Hayat Sindi also holds the position of visiting researcher at Harvard University. But what’s her story? And how did she get there? Let’s find out.

Who is Hayat Sindi?

Hayat Suleiman Sindi was born in Mecca, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on November 6, 1967, and was raised in a conservative family consisting of her father, mother, and seven brothers.

Since her childhood, she showed the characteristics of discovery and creativity, as she yearned for knowledge and learning. Her father supported and encouraged her to develop herself and her mental abilities, as the books of Al-Khwarizmi, Einstein, Ibn Hayyan, and Marie Curie accompanied her from childhood.

Hayat Sindi completed her primary, preparatory, and secondary studies in the schools of Mecca. Her high school average was 98%, which gave her the opportunity to enter the faculty of medicine. After some time had passed, Sindi felt that her field of study was not compatible with her inclinations and mental abilities, so she decided to travel to Britain to specialize in the field of pharmacology, but her father opposed the idea and prevented her from traveling until she was able to convince him of her eagerness to achieve her dream after two years of insistence.

Hayat Sindi started studying in Britain, but she faced learning difficulties due to her lack of proficiency in English, and her professor at the British University assured her that she would not be able to continue her studies if she kept her Islamic dress, but Hayat did not consider that important. On the contrary, it increased her determination and desire. With success, she studied about 20 hours a day until she graduated from King's College London with honors after discovering a treatment protocol for asthma.

Hayat Sindi worked during her undergraduate studies, teaching the Arabic language, to secure her expenses during the study period. After years of effort and toil, she was able to obtain a Ph.D. from Cambridge University after submitting her thesis, "Advanced Studies in Electromagnetic and Acoustic Measurement Instruments."

Sindi’s Greatest Achievements:

Hayat Sindi sought to dedicate science to finding solutions to health problems spread in Africa and the world, through launching the “Diagnosis for All” project, which she jointly launched with a team from Harvard University. This project aims to provide facilities for the medical diagnosis of patients in areas that are far from hospitals. With the invention of a small chip the size of a postal stamp, a drop of the patient’s blood is used to conduct the analysis immediately without the need to go to hospitals and use huge equipment and machines. This technology has contributed to saving many lives, and as a tribute to it, Hayat Sindi and her team won the first place award in the “Plans” competition while working for Social Enterprise” at Harvard University.

While Hayat Sindi was preparing for her doctoral thesis, she was able to invent a machine that works with the effect of light and ultrasound waves, which could be used in many fields of biotechnology. This machine is a very small sensor that gives very accurate results and reaches a degree of accuracy that enables it to know the predisposition of genes to diabetes.

Hayat Sindi received an invitation from SANA to work with it while she was preparing for her Ph.D. She also received an invitation to work at Sandia Labs in Texas, USA, but she refused the offer for fear that the US government would use this research in its wars. She also received an invitation to visit the Pentagon in 2001 to attend the National Conference on Cancer. Hayat said that this visit revealed to her the secrets of American scientific development. The University of California, Berkeley, invited her to join a delegation of 15 scientists from all over the world to research various scientific issues.

In 2004, Hayat Sindi attended the Gulf Women's Conference held at the Institute of Middle East Studies at the invitation of His Highness Prince Turki Al-Faisal. She also works with the American "Schlumberger" company to qualify the world's children for creativity and early discovery, and she established the "Imagination and Ingenuity 122" Institute - a non-profit institute that supports Arab youth and encourages them to invent and discover.

During her scientific career, Hayat Sindi received many important international award. The British Royal College appointed her as an honorary member in honor of her creativity. She also won the Mecca Award for Scientific and Technical Excellence in 2010 with a presentation from the Emir of Mecca Region, "Khalid Al-Faisal," which is the first award for Hayat in her country, Saudi Arabia. Hayat Sindi was ranked ninth among the most influential Arab women by Arabian Business magazine. She was named an emerging explorer in 2011 by National Geographic, and she won the Clinton Award for Global Citizens in 2016.

On the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations, she gave a lecture at the opening session, at the invitation of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon. She was recently appointed as an honorary member of the United Nations Environment Program and was considered an advisor at the "Eye on Earth" summit.

In conclusion:

Hayat refused the invitation that was extended to her to participate in the Israeli Center "Weizmann Institute" in Tel Aviv four times, as she emphasized the danger of working with Israel in terms of scientific research. She also rejected all tempting offers that were presented to her to work outside her homeland and chose to return to the holy city of Mecca to settle there and continue her career with scientific research and creativity.