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I was born in Syria and studied medicine in Aleppo before specializing in Anatomic and Cytologic Pathology in France at the Faculty of Medicine René Descartes Paris V University. I worked for 10 years in a Grand North-East hospital group in Paris. While working, I obtained diplomas in Clinical Cancerology, Renal Pathology and Fetal, and Placental Pathology from Paris Universities VI and VII. I also have a PhD degree in Genetics and Molecular Cell Biology.

In 2019, I traveled to the Amazonian territory of French Guiana to work on tropical diseases. I was the only pathologist in the area and studied the pathology of common tropical diseases, such as leishmaniasis, leprosy, histoplasmosis, tuberculosis, HTLV-1 and HPV, and their relation to cancer – accumulating over 50 publications and book chapters. My trajectory disproves the proverb: “A rolling stone gathers no moss.” I even ventured into the pathological examination of wild animals to develop One Health perspectives on Amazonian zoonoses. 

In 2021, I joined the research group at the Antilles Guyane Clinical Investigation Center. At the same time, I took medical responsibility for the Center of Biological Resources – biobank CRB Amazonie – which I developed until double ISO certification. In June 2022, I became the medical director of the Cancer Registry of French Guiana and piloted the regional roadmap of the fight against cancer. I opened the doors of my department to students and researchers from all horizons, and developed multiple national and international partnerships.

Many boats hug the coast, but I fearlessly steered my boat straight into the uncertainties of the wide Atlantic ocean – from the east coast of the Mediterranean to mainland France and then to French Guiana. Doing not what’s easy, but what’s important, is an asset in the pursuit of new scientific ideas.