Biography

Professor Nagwa is a distinguished expert in Human Genetics and the former Head of the Human Genetics Institute at the National Research Centre, Egypt. She holds a Ph.D. in Human Genetics and is a Senior Fellow at Uppsala University in Sweden and Yale University in the United States. In 2002, she was one of five scientists selected for the L’Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Award for Africa and the Middle East. In 2009, she received the Outstanding Arab Woman in Science Award and the Creative Woman in Genetics Award from the Arabian Gulf University in Bahrain. In 2017, she was honored with the State Prize for Advanced Medical Sciences, and in 2022, she received the Shouman Arab Autism Prize. She leads the Child Brain Research Group (CONEM) in Egypt and serves as a member of the Norwegian Board of Nutrition and Environmental Medicine. Her expertise has been instrumental in identifying and describing new genetic syndromes and exploring their potential link to endocrine-disrupting chemicals and emerging pollutants. She has also conducted research on heavy metals with neurotoxic properties, which exacerbate conditions associated with autism. Professor Nagwa has published over 100 international papers on genetic, environmental, and psychiatric disorders, making her research a valuable reference for scientists worldwide. Her work focuses on the relationship between genes, the brain, and behavior, using molecular genetics, epigenetics, and brain imaging to identify biological and environmental factors that increase or decrease the risk of psychological disorders and their impact on mental and neurological performance.