Huda al-Naimi

Huda al-Naimi is a medical physicist and writer from Qatar.

Biography Al-Naimi grew up a small town near Doha and studied physics at the University of Qatar. She moved to Cairo in 1990 in order to study for a master's degree in Nuclear Physics at Ain Shams University. She has represented Qatar at a number of international meetings and conferences concerning radiation safety, including those led by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United Nations Environment Programme. In 2013 she was President of the Qatar Medical Physics Society.

Arts and literature In addition to al-Naimi's studies, during her time studying in Cairo, she began to write creatively and published three books of short stories whilst living there. Her collection Abatil is seen as a key text in modern Qatari writing.

After moving back to Qatar, al-Naimi has been active in the cultural sector as a member for the National Council for Culture in Qatar and part of the organisational team for Doha: Arabic Capital of Culture 2010. During this year of the prize, al-Naimi praised the number of women on the judging panel, but was concerned that less than 15% of the entrants were women.

Awards 2015/16 - Recognition & Encouragement Award: Medical & Nursing was jointly awarded to Dr Huda al-Naimi and Dr Asma Ali Jassim al-Thani.