Khawla Al-Kuraya

Khawla Sami Al-Kuraya is a Saudi physician and scientist, serving as the Chief Cancer Research Scientist at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSHRC) in Riyadh City. She was selected among the first thirty women appointed to the Shura Council during its inaugural inclusion of female members in 2013. She has authored nearly four hundred research and scientific papers.

Khawla Al-Kuraya was born in Al-Jawf, north of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where she completed her secondary education. She earned a bachelor's degree in medicine and surgery from King Saud University (KSU) in 1994. She was then appointed as a teaching assistant and sent by the university to attend a program in the United States of America (USA), where she specialized in genetics. She obtained the American Board in Pathology from Georgetown University in Washington in 2000, and later earned a Ph.D. fellowship in cancer genetics from the National Cancer Institute in Maryland, USA, in 2001.

She serves as director of a project within the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC), a global research initiative comprising around seventy research groups across various countries, aimed at mapping cancer-related genes. She also heads the Saudi project dedicated to mapping the genetic map of thyroid cancer.

Khawla Al-Kuraya conducted scientific research at KFSHRC, developing a matrix of thirty-five genes, which she summarized in a chip called "hope." This chip enables a comprehensive early test, similar to premarital screenings, that can be easily and affordably conducted in clinics. It identifies inherited genes associated with cancer, helping to reduce future cancer risk.

Her scientific research includes a comparative study of breast cancer in Saudi Arabia and Switzerland, after noting that this type of cancer differs in Saudi Arabia from that in Switzerland. Through this comparison, she could identify the different molecular compositions, which helps in treating patients according to the molecular characteristics that vary according to the population group.

In 2010, Khawla Al-Kuraya was awarded the Order of King Abdulaziz (First Class) in recognition of her outstanding research contributions, making her the first Saudi woman to receive this medal. In 2007, she also received Harvard University's Excellence Award for her discovery of the genetic fingerprint in cancer patients.