The Muslim News - The Muslim News Awards 2009 Panel of Judges

Issue 238, Friday 27 February 2009 - 2 Rabi' al-Awwal 1430

The Muslim News Awards 2009 Panel of Judges

The shortlist and winners of The Muslim News Awards are chosen by an independent panel of judges who reflect a cross-section of opinion, experience and expectation. They are drawn from diverse professional backgrounds and ethnic origins and are distinguished by outstanding achievement in their respective fields.

Together they bring independent and erudite wisdom to recognise and reward excellence.

Dr Afia Ali is a lecturer at the School of Pharmacy, University of London, where she has a research group studying the circuitry of the brain, the mechanisms for higher order brain functions. She is a gifted experimentalist and lectures to Pharmacy students and has supervised some of the most talented PhD students in neuroscience in the UK. She has worked in the field of neuroscience for thirteen years and has produced leading scientific papers. Born in Bangladesh, Dr Afia Ali obtained a first class honours degree in Physiology in 1995, followed by a PhD in Neuroscience from University College London in 1998. After completing her PhD, Dr Ali obtained a prestigious Wellcome International Prize Travelling Fellowship to work in Paris at the Ecole Superieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielles, followed by University of Oxford for five years. Recognized for her expertise, in 2006 Dr Ali was awarded a prestigious New Investigators Award from the Medical Research Council. In 2008, Dr Ali was presented with the Fazlur Rahman Khan award for excellence in engineering, science and technology, at The Muslim News Awards.

Dr Maria Holt is a Lecturer in Democracy and Islam at the University of Westminster’s Centre for the Study of Democracy. Dr Holt brings to bear an impressive insight derived from over twenty years of study and experience on issues affecting the Middle East and the Muslim world. Born in Lanchashire, she was educated at the Universities of Toronto, Exeter and York. Since completing her PhD in 2004 (on the effects of violent conflict on Shi’i and Palestinian women in Lebanon), she has been working on two research projects, the first focusing on Palestinian refugee women in Lebanon in terms of memory, identity and change, and the other on the impact of Islamic resistance movements on women in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. Dr Holt’s other research interests include the Arab-Israeli conflict, Muslim communities in the UK, and political Islamist movements in the Middle East. Besides her academic research, Dr Holt worked for many years as a political lobbyist on Middle East issues.

Ismail Oyzoyn has a long history of serving the British and European Turkish community and is currently the chairman of the UK Turkish Islamic Cultural Centre Trust. The Trust is a professional organisation designed with assisting with the educational, cultural and religious needs of the Turkish community, in the UK. The Trust is headquartered at the Suleymaniye Mosque, built in an Ottoman style, which dominates the Dalston skyline in London. Prior to presuming the role of the chair, Oyzoyn served as an executive member of the Trust’s Committee between 2000 and 2007. In addition to being an active member of London’s Turkish community, Oyzoyn is a member of the Capital Business Club in London, and also runs a foreign exchange business in London.

Ejaz Qureshi has been spearheading business development, for a range of public bodies, for the past twenty years. Qureshi is currently the Director of Business & Commercial Development at Kingston University, helping the University increase its knowledge transfer and facilitating access for its student’s to the region’s top employers. Before joining Kingston, Qureshi headed up the University of Derby’s Regional Business Development where, in a similar role, he increased market penetration for the University by 200 per cent. Born in Lahore, Qureshi graduated as an engineer, completing his undergraduate then Master’s degree from the University of Loughborough in 1983. Qureshi also leads a busy civic life, serving as a Magistrate in Nottingham and subsequently a member of the Lord Chancellors Advisory Committee Nottingham Selection Panel. He has also served as a governor for the George Spencer School and is an advisor of Bobbers Mill Community Centre in Nottingham.

Hassen Basil Al-Sader is currently a doctor at St George’s Hospital in London. He was and remains an energetic student activist whilst training at the St George’s Hospital Medical School. Born in Baghdad, Dr Al-Sader co-founded the School’s Student Iraqi Medical Association, of which he became President and helped found the School’s Islamic Awareness Society. Dr Al-Sader also helped found the Muslim Student Council, which aims to co-ordinate between different university student societies in 2006. In this role he toured campuses across the country, becoming a national student leader in the Muslim community.

Sa’ada Saidu-Bala specialises the primary care of patients and has been working in the health care sector for over ten years. Ms Saidu-Bala is currently a Patient Advice and Liason at the NHS Hillingdon Primary Care Trust in London and is charged with facilitating greater interaction between patients and various healthcare professionals, from doctors and nurses to management staff and drug suppliers. In her current role, Ms. Saidu-Bala brings with her experience from the commercial healthcare sector, having worked for a range of firms including SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals (now GSK). She is also undertaking a Masters in Medical Anthropology at Brunel University. Ms Saidu-Bala enjoys travelling and giving tutorial lessons to children at a local Saturday Homework Club.

Salma Yaqoob is the Leader of the Respect Party. In 2006 she was elected as a city councillor to represent Sparkbrook ward on Birmingham City Council with nearly 50 per cent of the vote, one of the largest majorities in the city. A proud Briton of Pakistani heritage, Salma Yaqoob is a psychotherapist and mother of three children. She became involved in politics after 9/11 and helped build the large anti-war movement, addressing the million strong anti-war protest in Hyde Park on February 15, 2003 and being a leading member of the Stop the War Coalition. She has since become a local, national and international figure known for her passionate advocacy on a range of issues that affect social justice at home and abroad. Mrs. Yaqoob has been recognised by her peers for her contribution to civic life, receiving the Asian Jewel Award for Public Service Excellence in 2006. She was recently voted to eleventh place in the Birmingham Post’s Power 50 list of the most influential people in the city. She was cited for being a “doughty fighter for Birmingham inner city communities.” Harpers Bazaar magazine named her in the top thirty list of women they considered to be the most powerful nationally.
She is a regular commentator on current affairs on a range of national and international media, most notably, appearing as a panellist on the BBC’s Question Time. She has also written for a number of newspapers and made academic contributions to books and peer reviewed journals.