Professor Maha Taysir Barakat OBE is a world-renowned British-trained endocrinologist and global health diplomat serving as the Assistant Minister for Medical Affairs and Life Sciences at the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A Cambridge University PhD graduate, she previously co-founded the Imperial College London Diabetes Centre in Abu Dhabi and served as Director General of the Health Authority Abu Dhabi. In her current ministerial role, Barakat leads transnational humanitarian responses, including directing the UAE’s Frontline Heroes Office to protect crisis-response networks. Globally, she chairs the Board of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, orchestrating cross-border health initiatives to eradicate infectious diseases across Africa and the Middle East.