Dr. Omar El-Agnaf is considered a pioneer in the field of Parkinson’s and related neurodegenerative diseases. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the Queen’s University Belfast, UK in 1997, where he was appointed as a post-doctoral scientist at the School of Biology and Biochemistry until 1999. Following this, he undertook an additional two-year post-doctoral position at St. George’s Medical School, London. In 2001, he was awarded a Research Fellowship from the Parkinson’s Disease Society-UK to establish his research group at Lancaster University. Dr. El-Agnaf was appointed to the Biochemistry Department at the College of Medicine at UAE University after completing his Research Fellowship in 2004. In 2014, Dr. El-Agnaf joined HBKU, Qatar and was appointed Executive Director in 2018. His discoveries have significantly impacted the scientific research community, provided further insight into the molecular pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease, and offered new opportunities for the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic tools for the disease. He is currently a member of the editorial boards of several international journals. Publications in high-ranking scientific journals validate Dr. El-Agnaf's track record of excellent basic and translational research productivity. He has been granted 10 patents with 6 under consideration, and published 151 peer-reviewed articles.