Leveraging 35 years of professional experience in the science industry, Dr. Bassam El-Fahmawi has excelled as the chief executive officer and chief technical officer for Mawi DNA Technologies LLC since 2014. Earlier in his career, he worked for Bioneer Corporation as director of business development, Axygen Biosciences as a global product manager in molecular biology and business development manager, and Beckman Coulter, Inc., as a product manager in strategic marketing. Additionally, he served as a product manager for Agencourt Bioscience, a product development and research scientist for Norgen Biotek Corporation, and a technical marketing specialist for MJSBioLynx, Inc.
Prior to his more recent appointments, Dr. El-Fahmawi was a medical laboratory manager at Prince Fahd Bin Sultan Hospital, a product manager at RAM Pharma, a laboratory director for Modern Medical Labs, and a medical sales representative for Eli Lilly & Co. He commenced his career in 1990 as a researcher for the Institute of Science Research in Kuwait.
Before embarking on his career, Dr. El-Fahmawi received a Bachelor of Science in microbiology, with a minor in biochemistry, and a Master of Science in medical microbiology and bacteriology from Kuwait University in 1988 and 1990, respectively. Later in his career, he also obtained a Doctor of Philosophy in microbiology and biotechnology from the University of Alberta in 2005. Featured in The Wall Street Journal, Dr. El-Fahmawi has also received a myriad of accolades during his career. To wit, he earned the Faculty of Science Teaching Assistant Scholarship in 2001 and 2002 and the Teaching Excellence Award from the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta in 2000 and 2001. Likewise, he received the Outstanding Executive Member Award from the Housing and Food Services at the University of Alberta in 1999 and 2000 and a Faculty of Medicine Teaching Assistant Scholarship from Kuwait University from 1988 to 1990.
Among the many highlights of his career, Dr. El-Fahmawi is especially proud of his work on non-invasive and invasive biosample collections and innovative technologies for room-temperature transport and storage. He advises that the technologies created make it easier for molecular testing to occur; therefore, his product is now being used for testing early detection of kidney transplant rejection.
