Dr Maryam Matar is the founder and Chairperson of the UAE Genetic Diseases Association. Having worked tirelessly to reduce the occurrence of genetic disorders in the UAE in 2001, Dr Maryam Matar launched the UAE Down Syndrome Association in 2004. She also founded the UAE Genetic Diseases Association in 2006. Then, led the UAE Free of Thalassemia campaign initiative in 2012.

“The society will come to trust us through the care we provide and through the dialogues and connections we establish with our patients.”

She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine and Surgery and another degree from the Family Medicine Residency Program with distinction. She is the first UAE female Director-General of Community Development Authority (CDA), from 2007-2015.
Dr Matar’s UAE Genetic Disease Association has achieved notable results like the screening of 37,281 Emirati families and more than 13,000 expat families.

She is committed to women leadership, STEM and scientific innovations. Every year, she mentors more than 100 profession women, 500 young graduates and speaks in over 35 specialist conferences in the healthcare sector of the UAE.

Dr Maryam Matar is recognized as one of the ‘100 smartest people in the UAE’, “top 100 most influential Arabs in the world” (for four consecutive years), the most powerful scientist in the UAE since 2014, and top 20 Arab scientists with the biggest contribution to humanity by British Scientific Community 2016.