Heart of hospitality: Saudi cultural host welcomes world with open arms

RIYADH: People around the world want to remain healthy and independent into old age, according to the chief executive of Saudi Arabia’s Hevolution Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to extending healthy human lifespan.

“We at Hevolution do not like to use the word longevity,” said Mehmood Khan, CEO of the Hevolution Foundation, during the opening session of the organization’s Global Healthspan Summit in Riyadh on Tuesday, which has Arab News as a media partner.

“Most people that we serve around the world actually don’t want to live longer just for the sake of living longer. They want to be independent; they want to be functional mentally and physically,” Khan added.

The summit is back for its second edition in Riyadh, with health professionals, decision-makers, and investors gathering until Feb. 5.

Most people that we serve around the world actually don’t want to live longer just for the sake of living longer. They want to be indepen-dent; they want to be functional mentally and physically.

Mehmood Khan, Hevolution Foundation CEO

The two-day conference aims to focus on issues surrounding diseases resulting from aging, their impact on society, economics, and overall health. At the same time the event is negotiating investment opportunities to improve the quality of health in the Kingdom and worldwide.

Khan added: “I have to acknowledge Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose vision has led to the creation of Hevolution today.

“His unwavering support, I can tell you, as recently as four or five days ago, he wanted to know if everything was on track.”

The CEO further touched on some of the keys for improving healthy human lifespan, including scientific research and the quality of healthcare.

He said: “This is no longer a discussion for a few experts and patients, and I like to use the word consumers because we are in the business of maintaining them as consumers and not becoming patients.”

Touching on the networking opportunities presented by the summit, Khan added: “You are all here in this unique gathering, which is unprecedented anywhere else in the world. This is your opportunity, and your opportunity is to communicate, to figure out how to collaborate, how to convene in smaller groups and subgroups, and to push the boundaries of science.

“For the entrepreneurs in this room, there is no other business in the world that is going to affect every single human in 8 billion people.

“You have the chance to create businesses that will not only give you financial opportunity, given the scale, but will touch the life of every single human being.”

He concluded his speech by noting the concept of “sadaqah jariyah,” an Islamic belief of doing good not only for now but for the long term.

Khan added: “If we do this today, the benefit of this, and the value of this, will not only be seen in our generation but for generations to come. That is a fundamental belief not only for Islam but probably for most faiths.”

RIYADH: A number of Saudi graduates of British universities were honored for success in their careers at an awards ceremony at the UK Embassy in Riyadh on Monday.

Now in its 11th year, the UK Study Alumni Award judged applicants in four categories: science and sustainability, culture and creativity, social action, and business and innovation.

Out of thousands of applicants, four winners were chosen for each category by a team of independent judges.

The Social Action Award was presented to Qamar Naith, assistant professor at the University of Jeddah, who created pioneering medical devices after overcoming her own battle with heart disease.

While studying at the University of Sheffield, Naith created three medical devices: the first for the early detection of strokes, the second for tracking post-operational changes, and the third for early detection of issues during pregnancy.

“UK universities have played a vital role in shaping my journey,” she said.

“The UK system in general, they motivate people to involve their real life in their education.”

Faisal Al-Zahrani, professor at King Abdulaziz University, received the Culture and Creativity Award for his work at MirZyme Theraputics, a biopharmaceutical company aimed at predicting and preventing complications during pregnancy.

Al-Zahrani spoke about how his grandfather had traveled around the south of Saudi Arabia 100 years ago, seeking knowledge before returning home to share his experiences.

“My dad inherited the love of education in his DNA and guided me for a decade until I became a full professor.”

MirZyme Theraputics brings together Saudi and British universities to carry out medical research.

Although unable to attend in person, Shoura Council member Amal Talat M. Qattan, scientist in the Department of Molecular Oncology at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, won the Science and Sustainability Award for her research on precision medicine with a proactive approach.

Finally, the Business and Innovation Award was given to Raed Abu Dawood, who is the CEO of Saudi Aramco Technologies Co.

UK Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Neil Crompton told Arab News that what distinguishes the winners and finalists is that they have done amazing work on top of the rigor of academic stress.

He said that study abroad “makes friendships that last for a lifetime.”

Alicia Herbert, the UK’s special envoy for gender equality, spoke to Arab News about the importance of studying abroad in forming a strong bedrock for UK-Saudi relations.

“It’s about fundamentally understanding each other, there is nothing more powerful than visiting another country for a particular period of time and getting under the skin of it to understand what it’s about, and I think that’s exactly what exchanges like these do.”

This year, eight out of the 12 finalists for the awards were women.

Herbert said that although she had only been in the country for a few hours, she was struck by the progress of gender equality here in the Kingdom and by the speed at which it has happened.

“The statistics are … staggering,” she said.

Herbert added the progress is “incredible” but there is more to do in both countries and beyond to keep driving change forward.

Herbert herself grew up in the Caribbean and came to the UK as a student where she earned postgraduate degrees from the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics, and 35 years later she is still in the UK.

Matthew Knowles, the British Council’s director for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the Gulf spoke to Arab News about the rich academic and economic connections between Saudi Arabia and the UK.

He noted that there are around 17,000 Saudi students studying in the UK every year, split equally between men and women.

“A night like this is celebrating lots of different things, it is celebrating the connection that people have walked away with from their times studying and living in the UK; one of those slightly unquantifiable things,” Knowles said.

“The friends you make, the memories you create. The way that you learn to think, the different ideas you come across, it is an incredibly immersive and rich experience, a life shaping experience.”

Knowles cited the International Institute for Clean Hydrogen, a joint project by Newcastle University and King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals and their respective partners, announced in December 2024, as an example of the seeds that are planted through the student and academic exchange between countries.