Award Selection Process

The decision of the adjudicating committee is final and there is no appeal process.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

The board of trustees of AREF has a broad and global vision. Beginning with scholarships, the board of trustee’s goal is to continue to support post-secondary education and hopes to expand its services to include mentorship and networking.

Sameeh M. Salama, PhD

President

Aumer Assaf

Vice President

Ahmed Kamar

Treasurer

Nabil Mouallem

Secretary

Imad Kaddoura

Director

Rania Mohamed

Director

Hala Chiekh-Househ

Director

June Kazeil

Director

Nour Moussa

Director

Yasmeen Elhaj Abdullah

Director

Sara Hatoum

Associate

Zeinab Elbarrad

Associate

Sara Hatoum

Associate

Sameeh M. Salama, PhD

President

Sameeh Salama has over 25 years drug discovery experience across several disciplines and has held several senior level scientific and business development positions in both drug discovery and contract research organizations. Dr. Salama was actively involved in dozens of licensing and partnership agreements, including the licensing of Fedora’s Beta-lactamase inhibitors to F. Hoffman La Roche in a US$750 million license deal. He is also an active member of the Multi-sectoral Federal, Provincial and Territorial Task Group on Antimicrobial Resistance.

Dr. Salama currently serves as Vice-President of two biotechnology-focused organizations: Fedora Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage drug discovery company with special interest in development of new antibiotics targeting multi-drug resistant infections; and Brass Dome Ventures (BDV), a management and consultancy company focused on managing, investing and founding new health care and biotechnology companies. Prior to Fedora and BDV Dr. Salama was also the Vice President of business development at NAEJA Pharmaceutical Inc. in charge of matters related to NAEJA’s contract research business. Prior to his tenure at NAEJA, he was Director of Microbiology at SynPhar Laboratories Inc.

In his scientific capacity, Dr. Salama played a senior role in the discovery and development of several antibiotics including beta-lactams, beta-lactamase inhibitors, fluoroquinolones, azoles, polyenes, as well as several natural products. As a microbiologist, his involvement included structure-activity relationship studies, and design and assessment of in vitro and in vivo assays to evaluate new antibacterial and antifungal agents. Dr. Salama received his Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology from the University of Salford, UK. He also published over 50 original research articles and presentations at international congresses and has seven original patents in the anti-infective and anti-inflammatory disease areas.

Dr. Salama serves on the Board of Directors for BioAlberta, AREF, Arabian Muslim Association (observer), and is on the Government of Canada Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Research and Innovation Task Group, AMR Industry Advocacy Group, and the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) REVIVE council group.

Aumer Assaf

Vice President

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Ahmed Kamar

Treasurer

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Nabil Mouallem

Secretary

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Imad Kaddoura

Director

Imad Kaddoura holds an MBA degree in Business from Webster University – USA, a Bachelor’s degree in Business from Eastern Washington University – USA, and a Diploma in Executive Leadership in the Nonprofit Sector from MacEwan University – Canada.

Imad started his career in the for-profit sector in business development and marketing, working with global multinational corporations such as Sumitomo Corporation. After immigrating to Canada in the nineteen nineties, Imad taught classes in marketing, management, commerce and international business at Athabasca University for over twelve years. Afterward, Imad fell in love with the Canadian non-profit sector and decided to move over to it and dedicate his skills and expertise to the service of worthy social causes permanently.

During this long career in the field of fund development in the non-profit sector, which spans over two decades, Imad succeeded in becoming a catalyst for growth and development within NGOs he worked with. His rich experience includes the establishment of infrastructures of fund development programs for different Canadian charitable organizations, including the development and establishment of creative solutions to save stagnant fundraising campaigns, such as the implementation of a dynamic fundraising call-centre for one NGO through which over 100 new monthly donors were cultivated in a short period of two months only to revive a faltering campaign that was experiencing acute attrition rates and losing donors on monthly basis; another example, is the launching of a monthly fundraising campaign based on the revolutionary and disruptive blockchain technology for another NGO, as well as assisting other NGOs in establishing endowment funds with major community foundations.

During his long and prosperous career in fund development, Imad worked with several charitable and nonprofit organizations and served in leadership roles in capital fundraising campaigns. His work was instrumental in raising millions of dollars in major gifts, grant funding, and loans from various funders, such as the Canadian Federal Government, the Alberta Government, the city of Edmonton, RBC, CIBC, as well as international development banks such as the Islamic Development Bank, and from foreign governments such as the Government of Dubai. As well as major gifts and gifts-in-kind from multinational global corporations such as Yokogawa, Sherritt, Debeers, and FUJIFILM and large Canadian corporations such as Millar Western and Syncrude Canada, in addition to scholarship funds for a capital campaign of a renowned post-secondary institution.

Imad Kaddoura is an advocate by nature and restless in searching for and exploring creative and cutting edge innovative solutions of fund development for the non-profit sector for the greater benefit of the Canadian society at large.

Rania Mohamed

Director

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Hala Chiekh-Househ

Director

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June Kazeil

Director

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Nour Moussa

Director

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Yasmeen Elhaj Abdullah

Director

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Sara Hatoum

Associate

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Zeinab Elbarrad

Associate

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Sara Hatoum

Associate

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