Dlawer Ala'aldeen
MEMBER
Professor Dlawer Ala’Aldeen is the Founding President of the Middle East Research Institute (MERI, www.meri-k.org), a prominent policy research institute and think tank based in Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He has been deeply involved in capacity-building and nation-building projects in Iraq since 1992.
Prof. Ala’Aldeen studied medicine in Baghdad and completed his postgraduate studies (MSc, PhD, FRCPath) in London, UK. He was a Medical Research Council Fellow before his clinical academic appointment at Nottingham University, where he served as a Professor of Medicine. His academic and research work has focused on pathogenesis, molecular epidemiology, and vaccine development for various bacterial pathogens.
From 2009 to 2012, Prof. Ala’Aldeen served as the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). During his tenure, he initiated an ambitious reform program aimed at modernizing the higher education system in the Kurdistan Region. This included enhancing the quality of education, establishing a quality and accreditation system, promoting social justice, ensuring equal opportunities, and leading a major scholarship program to send students abroad for advanced studies.
Prof. Ala’Aldeen has published extensively in international scientific journals and co-authored several books on microbiology and medicine. He has also written on political dynamics, governance, and democratization in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. Notable publications include “Nation Building and the System of Self-Governance in Kurdistan Region” and “Lobbying for a Stateless Nation”.
Under his leadership, MERI has been recognized as the leading think tank in Iraq and among the top 5% in the Middle East and North Africa, according to the Global Go To Think Tank Index report. MERI is focused on governance reform, policy issues, and promoting rule-of-law and human rights.
