Dr. Hesham Abdelghaffar has over 25 years of experience leading Healthtech businesses throughout the Middle East and North Africa region, during which he founded and built three thriving tech ventures in the US, Egypt, and KSA. He played a crucial role as a founding member of HTTT_MENA, a leading regional think tank dedicated to developing and sponsoring innovative ideas and disruptive business models in Healthtech with particular interest in implementations of AI, Big Data and Block Chains in Healthcare sector.
Currently, Dr. Abdelghaffar serves as the Founder and Senior Partner at MenaGurus, a prominent angel investment group that specializes in funding Tech startups in the MENA region. Previously, he held the esteemed position of Executive Vice President and Regional Managing Director of the Middle East and Africa for the Wadhwani Foundation, a California- based US foundation focused on supporting entrepreneurship, skills development, and AI for social impact. Dr. Abdelghaffar has also served as the Managing Director of the Kharafi Group of Kuwait, Polaroid MENA Dubai UAE, and has co-founded several Healthtech Public-Private Partnerships with Egypt's government, aiming to bridge the digital divide in the local healthcare sector.
Dr. Abdelghaffar has an extensive experience as a University Professor: he currently serves as the Head of the Health Administration and Informatic Technology Department at the College of Applied Health Science Technology in Misr University for Science and Technology (MUST). Additionally, the holds the position of Adjunct Professor of Management at the American University in Cairo (AUC) where he teaches wide range of courses, including Information driven healthcare, Health informatics, Healthcare Leadership and governance, organization behavior and culture, strategic planning, Creative entrepreneurship and change management across AUC School of Business, School of Science and Engineering and School of Continuing Education.
