Thirty-year-old Hosam Zawawi from Saudi Arabia is the first scientist from the Middle East to win the prestigious Young Laureates award at the Rolex Awards for Enterprise 2014. He was selected along with four other aspiring individuals from different countries at London’s Royal Society, the world’s oldest scientific academy in continuous existence.

All the five young extraordinary people are looking for solutions to problems faced in their countries and beyond. Their projects range from screening babies for hearing loss, to exploring caves in the table top mountains of South America and tackling one of humanity’s most severe problems, the misuse of antibiotics.

The five pioneers were chosen by an international jury of eight eminent experts who reviewed a shortlist from among 1,800 applicants from 129 countries. Each of the young laureates received 50,000 Swiss francs to further advance their projects, a Rolex chronometer and worldwide publicity.

The Rolex Awards for Enterprise were created back in 1976 to foster a spirit of enterprise and advance human knowledge and well-being. Presented every two years, they support pioneering work in five areas, which include science and health, applied technology, exploration and discovery, the environment and cultural heritage.

Zawawi’s project aims to develop rapid tests to detect the presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, now considered a global threat to human health. He also plans a regional public awareness campaign warning of the dangers of the overuse and misuse of antibiotics.

The Saudi microbiologist spends endless hours in his laboratory finding solutions to a scenario in which modern drugs fail to work could become a reality. For his Ph.D. Zawawi is studying how bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics that help fight off life-threatening infections, such as pneumonia. “I witnessed two superbugs at the earliest stages of my studies and I found out that some bacteria are being resistant to antibiotics; this issue really inspired me to dig more. I learned more about the medical consequences of having such an issue in the medical community,” he said. “Then I was trained as an infection control practitioner, where I had direct contact with patient cases that had infections caused by antibiotics. So I decided to dig deeper and find out more about this issue,” he added.

Zawawi’s research found that those superbugs are spreading through the Gulf states (Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar). “In the GCC region, antibiotics are being sold without medical perceptions, the reason behind that is a lack of awareness and that people don’t really understand how it can harm their health,” he said. “Antibiotics might affect the good bacteria in our bodies that protect us from many medical issue and diseases. Antibiotics can somehow cause collateral damage,” he added.

Zawawi registered for the Rolex Awards after being inspired by Mark Kendall, an Australian professor who works where Zawawi is based.

“I wasn’t surprised when I learned that Hosam won the award, I knew that all the long hours he spent in the laboratory will finally pay off,” said Rehab Hassanein, Zawawi’s wife.

Zawawi is aiming for two things now. “My main study is on the strength of superbugs, I would like to expand this project and make it a sustainable project that is supported by all GCC governments. I would also like the general public to know how exactly the antibiotics work and not abuse these drugs,” he said.

Zawawi arrived to the Rolex Award ceremony armed with the support of his family, who stood proudly and clapped joyfully at the end of his speech.

“Hosam is a very creative and passionate person; he always makes sure to update us back home in Saudi Arabia on what his latest discoveries are,” said Layla Sabri, Zawawi’s mother. “We are looking forward to him coming back to us with his Ph.D. so that he can help develop our science and medicine skills and invest his skills in his own country. All he needs right now is the support and encouragement of people so that he can find a suitable solution for the problem of superbugs,” she added.

Zawawi’s father always believed in his son, who had initially wanted to be a doctor. Fortunately for him, Zawawi did not become a doctor because then he would only be an ordinary doctor, but now he is an extra-ordinary scientist. “Ever since he was young, he was always coming up with new inventions and ideas. This is exactly where he belongs because he got the chance to experiment with what he really wanted,” he said.

Dr. Hayat Sindi was one of the members of the Rolex Awards international jury. She said the Kingdom needs to use social media for creating awareness and prevention of diseases. “Fifty-five million people die every year because of their unhealthy lifestyles. If you create awareness and send the right message to people, we can save their lives and this is what Hosam is trying to achieve,” she said. “Sadly in the Middle East, we have a culture in which we prefer to get help from regular people instead of going to the doctor and getting a checkup. If you rely all the time on drugs to cure a disease, you are not giving your body a chance to heal by itself. This has to stop and we have to give our immune system time to help the body to heal instead of the antibiotics,” she added.

Rebecca Irvin, head of the Rolex Awards Secretariat in Geneva, said: “The jury liked Hossam’s project because it tackles a big issue and he is a very inspiring individual and a role model for young men in the Middle East. He is working on an issue that is very innovative and he is not only trying to raise awareness about the problem of antibiotic resistance but is also doing more ... to help find a solution,” she said. “We very excited to have him as the first from the Middle East and we are looking to receive more applicants from the region,” she added.

The Laureates Awards grants 100,000 Swiss francs and 50,000 Swiss francs to young laureates. All winners also receive a Rolex chronometer and benefit from an international publicity campaign.

Saddik & Mohammed Attar Company has been the Rolex retailer in the Kingdom for more than 56 years with 13 mono-branded Rolex boutiques in Jeddah, Riyadh, Makkah and Al-Madinah. “We are very proud of Hosam for achieving such a prestigious award with Rolex and for being the first award winner from Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. The Custodian of the two Holy Mosques King Abdullah’s scholarship program is there to develop the knowledge of the students and encourage them to achieve a high quality education,” said Saddik Omar Attar, CEO of Saddik & Mohammed Attar Company. “I hope Rolex Awards Program would inspire other Saudi based institutions to invest in researchers, inventors and help develop young Saudis’ talents and skills,” he added.

Zawawi is dedicated to public engagement and believes that better communication about scientific issues could transform health care in the GCC region. He uses a broad-based approach to raise awareness about antibiotic resistance because he wants to get his message across in any way he can, from offering iPads as prizes in competitions that test the public’s knowledge about antibiotics resistance, to promoting awareness in sports events, such as polo tournaments. A keen polo player himself, Zawawi has decided a name for his team for an upcoming match: The “Superbugs Slayers”.

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