Prof.Dr. EROL BAYSAL PhD (London), FRCP (London)
Dr. Erol Baysal graduated from University College London (UCL) in 1983 with Honours and completed his Doctorate at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine (RFHSM), University of London, in 1987. He is the recipient of the ‘Best Project in UCL’ award in 1983, under Prof. Sir James Whyte Black (1988 NOBEL PRIZE winner for Medicine). His doctoral thesis led to the publication of more than a dozen scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, which earned him the coveted ‘Peter Samuel Award’. He received numerous awards and scholarships during his training in the UK & USA. In 1987 he was offered a 3-year postdoctoral fellowship at New York University Medical Center (NYUMC), USA. In 1990, he was appointed as Assistant Professor at the Medical College of Georgia, USA. He became the youngest faculty and Headed one of the largest DNA diagnostic laboratories in the USA. He worked with Prof. T.H.J. Huisman, one of the most distinguished pioneers in the field of Thalassemia and a TRNC lover. In 1994, he was elected to the New York Academy of Sciences as ‘Lifetime Member’ for his outstanding contributions to the field of inherited blood disorders. He invented and published novel diagnostic PCR methods to diagnose the most common types of thalassemia syndromes in the world. His methods are currently being used in many DNA diagnostic laboratories worldwide. In 1995, he was appointed as Consultant Geneticist & Head of the Molecular Genetics Dept. at the newly established Dubai Genetic & Thalassemia Center. In 2002, he was awarded the Sheikh Hamdan Award for Medical Sciences. He is the founding member of the Dubai-based CAGS (Center for Arab Genome Studies). He launched TWO new National Programs in the UAE - Prenatal Diagnosis in 2005 & Premarital Screening Program in 2006. His experience in genetic diseases spans all continents and has served as consultant to the UN, WHO, NIH,TIF. He serves on the editorial board of several reputable international scientific and medical journals. He has published over 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He has authored two books and co-authored 11 book chapters. In 1997, he co-authored the Reference book “The Syllabus of Thalassemia Mutations", one of the most cited reference books in the literature. In 2006, the Royal College of Physicians, London, UK, bestowed upon him Royal Fellowship (FRCP) for his distinguished contributions to science and medicine. This prestigious Fellowship is the highest honour that the Royal College of Physicians, UK, bestows upon medical professionals worldwide. In 2008, he was inducted into “Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare”. In 2013, he was appointed as Professor of Genomics & Genetics at Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI), the world's largest genomics institute