As summer approaches, we start planning our vacations; first on the list is going to the beach, where we enjoy swimming and tanning. 

Dr. Mariam Matar, the Emirati scientist, is one of the UAE’s finest public servants. After working in several public health positions, Matar launched a series of outreach initiatives, including “UAE Free of Thalassemia 2012”. She has also launched the UAE Down’s Syndrome Association in 2005 and the UAE Genetic Diseases Association in 2006, through which she has been able to spread awareness regarding the risks of genetic diseases and specifically Thalassemia⁽¹⁾, which is a common genetic disorder in the UAE.

Virginia Apgar is a scientist who is believed to have changed the face of medicine significantly by her contributions in the field of anesthesiology and neonatology. The American physician is best known for developing the Apgar Newborn Scoring System, also known as the Apgar Score; a simple, quick method for judging newborn viability. The newborn’s appearance color, reflex irritability, muscle tone, and respiration are assessed one minute after birth and again after five minutes; low scores indicate possible health issues. Her test has saved countless infants, laid the foundations of neonatology, and discovered potentially grave conditions. She was one of Columbia University’s first female MDs and one of the first American women to specialize in anesthesia.

Summer is on; the weather is getting really hot. Since we are in a vacation season, we will be going on picnics or we will be enjoying the beach, but what food should we eat to stay fresh and cool?

Despite the warm sunshine and the much anticipated freedom that accompanies summertime, many people can actually feel more depressed during the summer. 

Alice Catherine Evans was an outstanding microbiologist who made one of the most medically important discoveries of the 20^th century. She is well-recognized for establishing that humans are infected by the once-common, painful disease brucellosis from raw cow and goat milk. Brucellosis, a recurrent disease also known as Malta or undulant fever, causes shooting pain in the joints, fever, and depression. For years, her research findings and results were scorned and ignored because of her gender and because she did not have a doctorate degree. She lobbied successfully for the pasteurization of all milk and lived to see the disease fall into obscurity.

From the early ages to this day, medicine has experienced a huge development; each civilization has made its own contribution to the development of medicine and health care practices. Arab scientists, who were once widely known for their excellence in all fields of science, significantly improved medical care. With their mastery in chemistry, biology, and dissection, Muslim physicians proved their abilities in all the fields of medicine.