2025-Science-Iijima- 02

Professor Sumio Iijima

by Science

Sumio Iijima was born in Saitama Japan on 2 May,1939. He has been a ‘University’ professor at Meijo University (Nagoya) since 1999 and a Senior Research Fellow at NEC Corporation (Tokyo). He was Former Director of Nanotube Research Center of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Japan and current Honorary Fellow of AIST.

 

After graduating from Electro Communication University in Tokyo, he continued his graduate studies at Tohoku University (Sendai), where he received his Ph.D. in physics in 1968 with a focus on condensed matter physics and electron microscopy. His dissertation was on Print-Out Effects in AgBr Crystals. Later, in 1970, he moved to Arizona State University as a postdoctoral researcher, where he worked with Professor J. Cowley on the development of the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and established the current HRTEM method ahead of the rest of the world. He reported pioneering work on atomic-resolution HRTEM for a variety of materials, including complex oxides, minerals, carbon materials, metal atoms. In the meantime, he was invited to Cambridge University in 1979 and worked on HRTEM imaging of amorphous carbon. After returning to Japan in 1982 and engaged in research on ‘Ultra-Fine Particles’ for five years as part of the Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology project (National research project), he joined NEC Research Laboratories in1987.

 

In 1991 he discovered carbon nanotubes, pioneering nanoscience and nanotechnology in the world. The first paper reporting carbon nanotubes currently has 58,000 Google citations and counting. The discovery honored him with numerous invitations to international conferences such as the 2014 KAUST-NSF Conference, as well as awards, prizes and honorary doctates, including the Franklin Medal in physics in 2001, the Agilent Europhysics award, the APS McGroddy prize, the Imperial Prize, the Japan Academy Prize, and Order of Culture Merits (2009). In 2007, he was awarded the Aminoff Prize (Sweden) and the Balzan Prize (Italy), European Inventor Award in 2015. He was elected as Member of the Japan Academy, the foreign member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, the foreign members of the National Academy of Science (USA) and also the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

الأستاذ الدكتور ميشيل سادلين

Professor Michel Sadelain

by Medicine

Michel William Jeffrey Sadelain was born in Paris, France on 21 April, 1960. He received his baccalaureat degree in Math in France and MD degree from the University Paris in 1984, training with Pr. Gabriel Richet.  He continued his training in Immunology at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada) with Dr. Thomas Wegmann and pursued his postdoctoral research at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT (Cambridge, MA) with Dr. Richard Mulligan (1989-94). In 1994 Dr. Sadelain began his work at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he founded the Center for Cell Engineering in 2007.

Dr. Sadelain’s research has been on the forefront of stem cell and T cell engineering, with the aim of devising safe, effective, and ultimately curative treatments for severe hereditary blood disorders and cancers. His lab conceived receptors for antigens that he named chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) and identified CD19 as an optimal therapeutic target, for which he provided the first experimental evidence by demonstrating that human T cells could be engineered to effectively target CD19+ lymphomas and leukemias in mice (Brentjens et al, 2003). His lab obtained the first FDA approval for a CD19 CAR therapy trial in the US. In 2013, his team was the first to report dramatic responses to CD19 CAR therapy in adults with relapsed and refractory acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) leading to long-term survival.  CAR therapies were approved by the FDA in 2017. The advent of CD19 CAR therapy has paved the way for a nascent global cell therapy industry that is poised to advance other cell-based medicines and regenerative medicine.

Michel Sadelain is an author of over 280 papers and his research has led to the creation of over 60 patents. He previously served on the NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee, as President of the American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy, and is an elected Fellow of the American Association of Cancer Research.  He is the recipient of the Cancer Research Institute’s Coley Award for Distinguished Research in Tumor Immunology, the Sultan Bin Khalifa International Award for Innovative Medical Research on Thalassemia, the NYIPLA Inventor of the Year award, the Passano award, the Pasteur-Weizmann award, the Gabbay award, the INSERM International Prize Laureate, the ARC Foundation Léopold Griffuel award, the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy, the Clarivate Citation Laureate in Physiology or Medicine for breakthrough research advancing CAR therapy for the treatment of cancer, and in 2024 the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences and the Canada Gairdner Award.

الأستاذ الدكتور سعد بن عبد العزيز الراشد

Professor Saad Abdulaziz Alrashid

by Islamic Studies

Saad Alrashid was born in 1946. He earned his bachelor’s degree in history in 1969 from King Saud University. He was granted a scholarship to the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom to study Islamic archaeology. During his academic journey, he conducted field studies in several Arab, Islamic, and European countries to collect information related to his field. He also undertook extensive expeditions along the historic pilgrimage route (Darb Zubayda) from Iraq to Mecca and Medina. ‏Professor Alrashid presented a comprehensive research study titled: Darb Zubayda: The Pilgrimage Route from Kufa to Mecca: A Historical, Civilizational, and Archaeological Study, which earned him a Ph.D. in Islamic Archaeology from the University of Leeds in 1977.

Professor Alrashid worked as an Assistant Professor in the Department of History at King Saud University and contributed to establishing the first Department of Archaeology in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, and Yemen in 1978. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1982 and later to Full Professor in 1992. He held several administrative positions at the university, including Vice Dean of the College of Arts, Dean of Library Affairs at King Saud University, Head of the Department of Library and Information Science, and Head of the Department of Archaeology and Museums. He also supervised archaeological excavations at the Islamic city of Al-Rabadha for 25 years. These excavations uncovered features of an early Islamic city associated with the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the Rightly Guided Caliphs, extending into the early Abbasid era. Discoveries included architectural features such as the main mosque, the residential mosque, remnants of palaces and houses, water facilities, and a variety of artifacts. These findings provided insights into the characteristics of early Islamic cities in the Arabian Peninsula and served as a training ground for the first generation of Saudi archaeology students, who benefited from the hands-on experience to work in the Saudi Department of Antiquities. Professor Alrashid also led scientific and exploratory expeditions within and outside the Kingdom. He was appointed as Deputy for Antiquities and Museums at the Ministry of Education from 1996 to 2005 and later served as an advisor to the President of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage. The Ministry of Culture selected him as one of the curators for the Islamic Biennale.

Professor Alrashid has actively participated in numerous conferences, seminars, and scientific associations both within Saudi Arabia and internationally. He has authored many publications and scientific research articles featured in academic journals, as well as Arab and international encyclopedias. Among his notable works are Darb Zubayda: The Pilgrimage Route from Kufa to Mecca – A Historical, Civilizational, and Archaeological Study, Al-Rabadha: A Portrait of Early Islamic Civilization in Saudi Arabia, Unpublished Islamic Inscriptions from ‘Rawwa’ in Medina, Islamic Inscriptions from Mecca – Study and Analysis, Studies on Early Islamic Archaeology in Medina, Manuscript Inscriptions on Stone from the Asir Region: An Analytical and Comparative Study, and Al-Suwaidra (Formerly Known as Al-Tarf): Its Archaeology and Islamic Inscriptions. In addition, he published an English-language book titled Medieval Routes to Mecca: A Study of the Darb Zubayda Pilgrim Trail (revised by Peter Webb), (Gilgamesh Publishing/King Abdulaziz Public Library), 2020.

Professor Alrashid supervised several academic theses and was selected as a member of various councils, associations, advisory committees, and scientific bodies in his field of expertise. He received many awards, honors, and medals, including The King Khalid Medal (Third Class), The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Award for Excellence in Studies and Research on the History of the Arabian Peninsula, The King Abdulaziz Medal (First Class), The Amin Madani Prize for Research on the History of the Arabian Peninsula, and The Award of His Excellency Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Naim for Service to the History and Archaeology of the Arabian Peninsula.

الأستاذ الدكتور سعيد فايز السعيد

Professor Said Faiz Alsaid

by Islamic Studies

Said Faiz Alsaid earned a Ph.D. in Semitic Civilizations and Languages from the University of Marburg, Germany in 1994. He served as the Head of the Department of Archaeology, Dean of the College of Tourism and Archaeology, and Dean of the King Abdullah Institute for Research and Consulting Studies. He is the Secretary General of the King Abdullah International Translation Award, a member of the Board of Directors of the Heritage Commission, and a visiting professor at the University of Marburg, Germany (2001), the University of Nancy, France (2007), and the German Archaeological Institute (2015).

Professor Alsaid authored and translated 91 scientific papers on the archaeology of the Arabian Peninsula, all of which were published in 15 books and peer-reviewed scientific journals in Arabic, German, English, and French. Professor Alsaid took part in several archaeological excavations at various sites across Saudi Arabia, including Al-Faw site, Field supervisor for the King Saud University excavation team at the Dadan site (2004-2010), Co-chair of the Saudi-German excavation project in Tayma (2004-2010), and Co-chair of the Saudi-French project for documenting and studying archaeological inscriptions in the Najran region (2007–2014). He also conducted several archaeological surveys at sites such as Al-Birk site in Jazan, Tayma, Tabuk, Najran, Al-Ula, Madain Saleh, Hail, Thaj, and Al-Quwaiyah. The results of these surveys were published in books and peer-reviewed scientific journals. Professor Alsaid also contributed to navigating and identifying King Abdulaziz’s route to reclaim Riyadh and aided in preparing the archaeological content for the National Museum and Al-Murabba Palace. Furthermore, he was involved in the establishment and preparation of academic programs in archaeology, including Chair of the Scientific Committee for establishing the College of Tourism and Archaeology at King Saud University, Chair of the Scientific Committee for developing the curriculum for the Archaeology program at King Saud University, Chair of the Scientific Committee for developing the curriculum for the Heritage Management program at King Saud University, Chair of the Scientific Committee for the international accreditation of the Archaeology program at King Saud University, and Chair of the Scientific Committee for developing the specialized standards and learning outcomes document for the Archaeology program, a readiness project with the Saudi Education and Training Evaluation Commission.

Since 2019, Professor Alsaid has been selected as a member of Saudi Arabia’s team of accredited experts for the World Heritage Committee (UNESCO). He has also supervised 16 master’s and doctoral theses in the fields of archaeology and heritage management. He served as the Secretary of the Saudi Archaeological Studies Association from 1998 to 2008, Vice President of the Saudi Archaeological Society in 2021, and Chief Editor of Archaeological Studies journal, the journal of the Saudi Archaeological Studies Association (1998–2006). He was also the Editor of the annual book of the Department of Archaeology, Studies in Archaeology (2006–2013).

Professor Alsaid received several prestigious awards, including King Abdulaziz Prize for the Book in 2014, The King Saud University Deanship of Graduate Studies and Scientific Research Award for Distinguished Scientific Publication in 2011, The Shoman Award for Arab Researchers in 2003, The German Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship in 2000, a Certificate of Appreciation from the Arab Awards Forum in 2021, a Corresponding Member of the German Archaeological Institute since 2006, and a Certificate of Appreciation for Pioneers in Archaeology from the Ministry of Media in 2012.