Gihan Kamel Explained

Gihan Kamel
Nationality:Egyptian
Fields:Physics
Birth Date:1976
Known For:Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East

Gihan Kamel is an Egyptian physicist known for her work as an Infrared Beamline Scientist in the Synchrotron-light project for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME).[1] [2] She lives in Jordan.[3]

Education and early life

Gihan's mother is a doctor and her father is a teacher. The "idea that science and engineering were meant only for men became [her] strongest motivation" to pursue a career in science.

She studied physics at Helwan University in Cairo, obtaining a B.A. and an MSc in solid-state physics before moving to Italy, where she obtained a Ph.D in biophysics in 2011 at the Sapienza University of Rome.

Career and research

She is a lecturer in Biophysics at Helwan University, and since the mid-2000s she has been interested in the SESAME project, which brings together nine countries (Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Turkey, Palestine, Iran and Israel), and is currently the only woman scientist on the project.

In 2015, she earned recognition for her presentation at a TED conference on the theme of "Breaking the Rules".[4]

In 2023 she was one of the six women chosen by Nature to comment on their plans for International Women's Day. The others were Sandra Diaz, Martina Anto-Ocrah, Jess Wade, Aster Gebrekirstos and Tanya Monro.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Dr. Gihan Kamel. 2020-08-21. World Science Forum.
  2. Web site: We do not fight when we deal with science – Dr Gihan Kamel. 2020-08-21. Horizon: the EU Research & Innovation magazine. en. 2021-01-25. https://web.archive.org/web/20210125041037/https://horizon-magazine.eu/article/we-do-not-fight-when-we-deal-science-dr-gihan-kamel.html. dead.
  3. Web site: Gihan Kamel Women in Optics SPIE. 2020-08-21. spie.org.
  4. Web site: TEDxCERN TED. 2020-08-21. www.ted.com.
  5. 2023-03-08 . Celebrate women in science — today, and every day . Nature . en . 615 . 7951 . 187–187 . 10.1038/d41586-023-00670-5. free .