Khawla S. Al-Kuraya is a Saudi physician and cancer specialist. She is a professor of

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

and directs the King Fahad National Center for Children's Cancer and Research. Al-Kuraya was born in the

Al Jawf Region Al-Jawf Province ( ar, ‫منطقة الجوف‬ Minṭaqat al-Jawf pronounced lˈdʒoːf, also spelled Al-Jouf, is one of the provinces of Saudi Arabia, located in the north of the country, containing its only international border with Jor ...

of Saudi Arabia. She was admitted to

King Saud University King Saud University (KSU, ar, جامعة الملك سعود) is a public university in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Established in 1957 by King Saud bin Abdulaziz to address the country's skilled worker shortage, it is the first university in the K ...

in Riyadh and earned her MD in general surgery and medicine. She completed her residency in clinical pathology in Washington D.C. at

Georgetown University Hospital MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is one of the Washington, D.C. area's oldest academic teaching hospitals. It is a not-for-profit, acute care teaching and research facility located in the Georgetown neighborhood of the Northwest Quadrant ...

. She then completed a fellowship in

molecular diagnostics Molecular diagnostics is a collection of techniques used to analyze biological markers in the genome and proteome, and how their cells express their genes as proteins, applying molecular biology to medical testing. In medicine the technique is ...

and

hematopathology Hematopathology or hemopathology (both also spelled haem-, see spelling differences) is the study of diseases and disorders affecting and found in blood cells, their production, and any organs and tissues involved in hematopoiesis, such as bone m ...

at the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

. Al-Kuraya first identified the FOSM1 gene, which prompts the human body to form cancer cells. For her cancer research Al-Kuraya was awarded the

Order of Abdulaziz al Saud Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

in 2010. She was the first Saudi woman to receive the award. Saudi newspapers and television depicted King Abdullah shaking her hand and placing the medal around her neck. The public display of proximity to an unrelated woman was unprecedented at the time. She was among 30 women who in 2013 were appointed by King Abdullah to the

Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia The Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia ( ar, مجلس الشورى السعودي, Maǧlis aš-Šūrā s-Saʿūdiyy), also known as ''Majlis ash-Shura'' or ''Shura Council,'' is the formal advisory body of Saudi Arabia. It is a deliberative as ...

, an advisory body that proposes laws.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khuraya, Khawla Al Living people Cancer researchers King Saud University alumni Saudi Arabian pathologists Saudi Arabian women medical doctors Year of birth missing (living people)