Huda al-Naimi (Arabic: هدى النعيمي) is a medical physicist and writer from Qatar.
Dr Huda Mohamed al-Naimi | |
|---|---|
| Citizenship | Qatar |
| Education | University of Cairo |
| Occupation | Director of Safety |
| Employer | Hamad Medical Corporation |
| Honours | President of the Qatar Medical Physics Society |
Biography
Al-Naimi grew up a small town near Doha and studied Physics at the University of Qatar.[1] She moved to Cairo in 1990 in order to study for a Masters in Nuclear Physics at Ain Shams University.[1] She continued her education and was awarded a doctorate from the University of Cairo in Medical Physics.[1]
Career
In 2000, al-Naimi moved back to Qatar and took up a post as Director of Safety for the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC).[1] As part of her role at HMC, al-Naimi leads on their MENA-regional training on radiation safety.[2] She has represented Qatar at a number of international meetings and conferences concerning radiation safety, including those led by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United Nations Environment Programme.[3] In 2013 she was President of the Qatar Medical Physics Society.[4]
Arts and literature
In addition to al-Naimi's studies, during her time studying in Cairo, she began to write creatively and published three books of short stories whilst living there.[1] One of her stories, Layla & Me, is a Qatari telling of the Red Riding Hood story - in it the protagonist is as dark as the wolf.[5][6] Her collection Abatil is seen as a key text in modern Qatari writing.[7]
After moving back to Qatar, al-Naimi has been active in the cultural sector as a member for the National Council for Culture in Qatar and part of the organisational team for Doha: Arabic Capital of Culture 2010.[1] She is active in literary circles and in 2011 was guest of honour at the Sudanese Book Fair in Khartoum.[1] In 2012, she was one of the judges for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, alongside translator Gonzalo Fernández Parilla, originally from Spain, and from Lebanon the critic Maudie Bitar.[8] During this year of the prize, al-Naimi praised the number of women on the judging panel, but was concerned that less than 15% of the entrants were women.[9]
Awards
- 2015/16 - Recognition & Encouragement Award: Medical & Nursing was jointly awarded to Dr Huda al-Naimi and Dr Asma Ali Jassim al-Thani.[10]