Adel Abdel Aziz El-Sayed, MD, PhD
Prof. Adel El-Sayed has recently joined Doha Clinic Hospital and has started the IDF Diabetes Care Center of Excellence in Doha, Qatar. Prof. Adel has extensive experience in the field of diabetes and obesity. His interest in diabetes has come from his long-term professional career and his interest in facing and finding solutions to the diabetes problem and his long-term commitment and activities in the field of diabetes on national, regional, and international level. His activities to serve and defend the cause of diabetes involve working through the most important international organizations working in this field, namely, the IDF, the WHO and the NCD. He is the founder and currently a member of the Disaster Committee of the IDF. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the global IDF School of Diabetes which works to standardize diabetes education globally and in 2024 was IDF Vice President.
He was appointed to the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Diabetes (WHO TAG/D). This is an international WHO advisory group of 12 members established to act as an advisory body to WHO to further leadership and coordination in promoting and monitoring global action against diabetes. He chaired the expert committee which met in the WHO Office in Geneva in April 2017 and produced the WHO International Diabetes Treatment Guidelines which was published in Annals of Internal Medicine in September 2018.
He is the Principal Investigator of the (Post COVID Syndrome in Egypt National Study) in collaboration between the Egyptian NCD Alliance EgNCDA, with the Egyptian Ministry of Health MOH, and the National Egyptian WHO Office. He is a member of the East Mediterranean Regional NCD Alliance (EMR NCDA) Board of Directors.
He is a founder and Past President (2016-2018) of Diabetes in Asia Study Group (DASG). - He was a member of the Advisory Board of a 5-year project ‘Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Prevention Development Impact Bond’ for diabetes prevention among Palestinian Refugees which is carried out by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East UNRWA. He is the Co-author of the book "Global Health Perspectives in Prediabetes and Diabetes Prevention." He is a known Regional and International speaker. He has chaired and presented at national, regional, and international conferences and meetings in more than 40 different countries.
He Co-Chaired the CReDO Conference 2020, organized by Encore Medical Education, a joint conference between Harvard Medical School and Upper Egypt Diabetes Association UEDA. The CReDO Conference discussed “the recent advances and the integration between Cardiovascular, Renal, Diabetes and Obesity diagnosis and management”.
He is interested in Arabic literature especially Arabic poetry and he is a reader, a composer and an active member in local societies with Arabic literature interest.

Athena Philis-Tsimikas, MD
Dr. Athena Philis-Tsimikas is a board-certified endocrinologist with over 25 years of experience in diabetes care, research, and education. She currently serves as Corporate Vice President at the Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute in San Diego, California, and as Director of Community Engagement at the Scripps Research Translational Institute.
In her leadership role, she oversees the diabetes service line across five hospitals and 25 outpatient clinics at Scripps Health. She has developed and led numerous programs focused on improving diabetes care delivery and outcomes, especially for underserved populations.
Dr. Philis-Tsimikas is best known for founding Project Dulce, an innovative care model that combines nurse-led management with peer educators and primary care providers to improve diabetes outcomes in diverse communities. This model has received national recognition and has been widely implemented.
She also holds an academic appointment as Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).
Dr. Philis-Tsimikas earned her medical degree from the University of Athens, Greece, and completed her residency in internal medicine and fellowship in endocrinology at the Medical Center of Central Massachusetts, UC San Diego, and Scripps Clinic.
Her work also focuses on integrating digital health technologies into diabetes management and expanding access to culturally sensitive care. She has been a principal investigator in numerous clinical trials and community-based research initiatives.