Two researchers affiliated with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have been named among the 2026 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Middle East Regional Young Talents honorees, marking the fourth consecutive year that KAUST-affiliated scientists have received recognition through the program.  

Ph.D. candidate Alaa Almushaikeh, an applied physics researcher at KAUST specializing in advanced materials for radiation detection and X-ray imaging, was recognized for her work on high-performance scintillators.  

Dr. Aljawharah Alrubayyi, a recipient of the Ibn Rushd Postdoctoral Fellowship and a research fellow in the Peppa Lab at University College London and the Gaiha Lab at the Ragon Institute of Mass General Brigham, MIT and Harvard, was honored for her research in biomedical sciences.  

The L’Oréal-UNESCO program elevates early-career women researchers whose work addresses global challenges across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).  

For Almushaikeh, who studies applied physics under Professor Omar F. Mohammed, receiving the award supports the next phase of her research and provides a valuable platform to communicate her work. She is developing more affordable, high-performance light-emitting materials called scintillators, which convert X-rays into lower-energy light detectable by cameras or imaging detectors, ultimately aiming to improve the quality and efficiency of X-ray imaging.  

“I hope this award will allow me to build on the advanced performance we have already demonstrated with these materials and take the research closer to real-world applications,” Almushaikeh said.  

Read more at KAUST News.