Hossam Haick
حسام حايك
Born: Nazareth, Israel
Domain: Science & Medicine
Recognition: GLOBAL
Biography
Hossam Haick is a Palestinian scientist and engineer, born in 1975 into an Arab Christian family in Nazareth, who has become a globally recognized pioneer in nanotechnology and non-invasive disease diagnosis. He earned his bachelor's degree from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and his doctorate from the Technion, followed by postdoctoral fellowships at the Weizmann Institute of Science and the California Institute of Technology, where his interest in electronic noses took shape. Haick is best known as the inventor of the Na-Nose, an artificial 'nose' that detects disease from a person's exhaled breath. The device uses arrays of nanoscale sensors combined with artificial intelligence to identify the chemical signatures of more than twenty different conditions, including several cancers, kidney disease, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's, offering the prospect of cheap, rapid, painless screening long before symptoms appear. A full professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and the Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute at the Technion, Haick has published extensively, holds numerous patents, and has spun his research into companies developing breath-based diagnostic products. His massive open online course on nanotechnology, offered in multiple languages including Arabic, has reached hundreds of thousands of learners worldwide. His work has earned more than eighty international honors and listings, among them selection to the MIT Technology Review's list of the world's 35 leading innovators under 35, and recognition on global lists of influential figures. He has consistently used his platform to promote science education across the Arab world and among young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. As an Arab citizen of Israel who has reached the top tiers of international science while championing wider access to research, Haick occupies a distinctive place among contemporary Palestinian scientists, demonstrating world-class achievement in a field with direct benefits for human health.
Why This Person Matters
Haick invented the Na-Nose, an AI-driven artificial nose that diagnoses cancers and other diseases from a single breath, and is among the most internationally honored Palestinian scientists alive.