Dr. Bassam R. Ali is a professor in Molecular and Genetic Medicine and the leader of the Genetics and Development Research Priority Group at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University.Subsequently, Dr. Ali worked at Imperial College London and University College London before joining the UAE University in August 2006. His current research interests are: (1) Elucidation of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying human genetic diseases (2) The identification of disease genes responsible for rare recessive disorders in Arab populations and (3) The regulation of cellular trafficking in eukaryotic cells. Dr. Ali published over 50 original articles in international refereed journals and he is on the editorial board of two international scientific journals. Dr Ali’s work resulted in the elucidation of the cellular mechanisms of several human genetic conditions including Robinow syndrome, Acromesomelic Dysplasia type Maroteaux, Sponydylo-meta-epiphyseal Dysplasia and Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia. In addition, his research resulted in the identification of more than one hundred mutations in Arab families with recessive disorders. Dr. Ali chaired the organizing committee of the 2nd Al-Ain International Genetics Conference, 2008, and he participated in numerous scientific meetings.