Dr. Abdulla Ibrahim Al Khayat is Chief Executive Officer of Al Jalila Children's and Vice Chairperson of the Board of Directors. One of the first UAE national doctors to specialise in paediatrics, Dr. Abdulla is widely recognised as one of the most eminent paediatricians in the UAE. He obtained his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in 1970 from the University of Cairo. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Health (UK) and the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (London). In 2004, Dr. Abdulla became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and a member of the Gulf Chapter of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland since 2004.

Dr. Al Khayat is a Founder Member of the Thalassemia Centre in Dubai and the Emirates Medical Association since January 1982. He served as the Chairman of Emirates Medical Association from 1990 to 1993. He is the Chairman of the Dubai Centre for Special Needs since 1994, and headed Latifa Hospital as the Chief Executive Officer in 2009. He is also a former member of the Board of Trustees of Sheikh Hamdan International Award for Medical sciences.

Dr Al Awadhi is the Chief Operating Officer of Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital.

Prior to his appointment at Al Jalila Children’s he was General Manager at Al Raha Hospital in Abu Dhabi (2009 – 2014). During his tenure he was responsible for turning around the hospital from a loss making entity to profitability within a two-year period, and moving the hospital into the highest performance category, according to Abu Dhabi authority standards.

His career includes exposure to both the government sector, and private sector where he was involved in the formation and management of various private healthcare entities at executive management and board level. He has held positions in Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) and Dubai Health Authority (DHA).

Dr Al Awadhi graduated from the prestigious UAE Government Leaders Programme for Executive Leaders under the auspices of the UAE Prime Minister’s Office, in January 2017. He holds an Executive Masters in Healthcare Administration, College of Arts and Sciences, Zayed University, UAE (2012); and an MBBS from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, UAE University (2005).

He is an accomplished contributor to healthcare publications and co-author of a book entitled “World Health Systems: Challenges and Perspectives” which focuses on the health systems of different countries around the world. The book is published by American College of Healthcare Executives, USA.

Dr Al Awadhi is a keen sportsman, Arab chess champion (1994) and an avid traveller.

Dr. Ibrar Majid is a Fellowship trained Consultant Paediatric Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon at Al Jalila Children’s whose entire practice is completely dedicated to treating bone and joint problems in children. He was born and schooled in the United Kingdom, and read medicine at the University of London. After graduating as a doctor he undertook surgical training in London, Leicester, Manchester and Liverpool (UK) and Baltimore (USA) before receiving his certification of training (CCT). During this time he also completed an MSc in Orthopaedic Engineering. He is currently a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, as well as a member of the British Society for Children’s Orthopaedic Surgery and the British Orthopaedic Association.

Prior to joining Al Jalila Children’s, Dr. Ibrar held the posts of Consultant Paediatric Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeon and Clinical Lead for the Major Trauma Service at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, United Kingdom. His clinical practice encompassed the full spectrum of paediatric orthopaedics across a tertiary referral centre and a district general hospital where he provided an outreach service. He regularly treats children with fractures and sports injuries, bone and joint infection, DDH, Perthes disease, SCFE, CTEV and other foot and ankle abnormalities, and cerebral palsy. He has a specialist interest in complex and major trauma, and limb deformity surgery. He was also part of a multidisciplinary team of clinicians that saw and treated children with skeletal dysplasia, metabolic bone disease and rare diseases with skeletal manifestations. Away from his daily clinical practice Dr Ibrar has a keen interest in healthcare policy and management. He has been involved in numerous quality improvement and service development programmes, and for the last nine years has served as chairman of the board of trustees of a multinational healthcare NGO.

Dr. Ibrar passionately believes that all children should have access to the best quality of healthcare, and works with his colleagues at Al Jalila Children’s to ensure that each and every child with bone and joint problems is able to reach their maximum potential and live a rich and fulfilling childhood. As a parent himself, he finds no better joy in his work than seeing children recover from injury and disease and return to normal, pain free function.

Dr. Ali Al Hammadi is the Director of Operations and is tasked with enhancing business performance at Al Jalila Children’s. He has several years of experience across revenue management, clinical administration, and project management. Dr. Ali holds a Master’s degree in Healthcare Management from the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland, and completed his Bachelor’s degree in Medicine from UAE University, Al Ain. He was a General Practitioner at the Ministry of Health and a Family Medicine Resident at Dubai Health Authority where he obtained his Membership of Royal College of General Practice (MRCGP) and Arab Board in Family Medicine.

Dr. Ali was Project Manager at Dubai Health Authority and worked on the Dubai Government Employee Health Care Benefit Scheme (Enaya) and oversaw the business development and revenue of Hospital Services Sector at Dubai Health Authority.  From 2011 to 2018, Dr. Ali managed Medical Administration and Medical Treatment Services at Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). At Dubai Healthcare City, he was Senior Director of Clinical Services and supervised operations strategy for the Medical Cluster.

Jukha Al Marzooqi is the Director of Clinical Support Services at Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital.  She has over 14 years of experience in diagnostic imaging, healthcare management and leadership. Prior to joining Al Jalila Children’s, she was the Radiology Clinical Supervisor at the Emergency and Trauma Centre at Rashid Hospital. Jukha acquired her Master’s Degree in Science with First Class Honors in Healthcare Management from the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland, after gaining a Bachelor’s Degree in Science with distinction from the Higher Colleges of Technology, UAE.

As part of her work at Al Jalila Children’s, Jukha continuously reviews the services provided by various departments under Clinical Support Services such as Diagnostic Imaging, Pharmacy, Nutrition, Laboratory Medicine, Rehabilitation, and Mortuary, and aims for continuous improvement in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, and regulatory compliance. Jukha has extensive experience in project management and was responsible for setting up the Diagnostic Imaging Department at Al Jalila Children’s and initiating its services. She also oversaw and managed the Laboratory Medicine Department in its run up to successfully being accredited by The College of American Pathologists (CAP).

Farhad Seddiq’s career path has a healthy mix of experience within the private and public sectors. His academic background is a reflection of his strive for excellence, he acquired a BBA in 1993, and an MBA in 1995 from Business School Lausanne in Switzerland, whilst being awarded for outstanding academic achievement in both programs. Mr. Seddiq’s career started off in 1995 with the private sector, in which he held several senior positions and was in charge of creating marketing strategies and brand development plans for some of the most prominent private entities, such as Hyatt Regency Chain of Hotels, TRI Hospitality Consultancy, Fonterra and Dubai Properties, managing along the way multimillion advertising and marketing campaigns.

His public service started in 2009 as a Director at the Department of Economic Development (DED), where he steered marketing for DED and its subsidiary agencies, working on planning and delivering overall marketing and communication strategy for DED, managing key external business partner relationships, monitoring public relations initiatives, and supervising all aspects of visual marketing creation and development. Mr. Seddiq went on to pursue a bigger challenge as the Director of Brand Development and Innovation at Dubai Festivals & Retail Promotions Establishment, with a role that required him to oversee the planning and implementation of communication strategies for 5 of the most famous annual city wide festivals, including Dubai Shopping Festival, Dubai Summer Suprprises, Ramadan in Dubai, Eid in Dubai, and Modhesh World. The nature of these products prompted Mr. Seddiq to create marketing strategies on both local and international levels, pursuing greater exposure and more visitors to these events. He was also instrumental in launching “Dubai Calendar”, the official listing of all events in Dubai and a Government of Dubai initiative that aims at developing and supporting the vibrant events sector in the Emirate.

Fereshteh Ismail is a seasoned expert in operations management and leadership with over 18 years of combined experience in oil and gas, banking and healthcare. Having worked in large organizations such as Shell, HSBC, and Dubai Healthcare City, she has brought significant value in streamlining and improving business operations, one example being proactively reducing and managing trade debt without affecting business operations in Shell Oil Company. 

Over the last 13 years, Fereshteh gained experience in setting up and managing functional non-clinical departments within healthcare operations, including Procurement and Administration, the Company and Professional Licensing & Registration for Dubai Health Care City Regulation, before bringing in her expertise to Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital.

She established the Procurement and Inventory Department from scratch including being a key player in the inception and go-live of the hospital. She has contributed significantly in process improvement through her tenure at Al Jalila Children's. Currently managing the Department of Procurement and Facility, she provides leadership to outsourced services of the hospital, supply chain, and is the main point of contact for all contracts.

Fereshteh has a Management of Business Administration (MBA) Degree from the University of Wollongong and is certified from the Economic Institute at the University of Colorado in Boulder, USA. Her personal interests range from travel to the lesser-known adventurous destinations to active involvement in UAE charitable projects. Some of her accolades include ‘Best UAE National in Mustaqbelk Program’, and ‘Shukran Award for Best Customer Driven Professional’ at HSBC in addition to many more. 

Raesa Afzal is Legal Counsel at Al Jalila Children's. She is an experienced lawyer from the UK who is admitted and registered to practice as a Solicitor in England and Wales. Raesa started her career in private practice with law firms in Central London and quickly moved up to take on a partner role at a firm specialising in commercial law. She then set up her own law firm, which she developed into a thriving practice and sold when she decided to move to Dubai to take up new challenges and experience a different legal system.  Raesa worked as a Legal Consultant at a local commercial law firm in Dubai and has built up experience in dealing with commercial matters, litigation, arbitration, regulatory matters, real estate and banking in the region.