Maha Barakat is Assistant Minister for Health and Life Sciences, UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She is Director-General of the recently established Frontline Heroes Office, which aims to support all frontline workers in the UAE. She also serves as the Board Chair of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, having previously been the Director General of the Health Authority Abu Dhabi from 2013-2018. Prior to that she worked at the Imperial College London Diabetes Centre which she founded in Abu Dhabi. She was awarded an OBE in 2010 and given the Imperial College Medal in 2013. An outstanding academic with a PhD from Cambridge University, she serves on various boards and committees related to research and development issues in the medical field.