The Rammal Award, created in memory of the great Lebanese physicist Rammal Rammal (1951-91) is awarded each year to an outstanding personality of strong scientific stature from one of the Mediterranean countries, who, through his life and activity (whether in fundamental or applied research, teaching, or the integration of knowledge), has given a new and modern form to the flow of scientific exchange in this part of the world.
Active scientists from any disciplinary background, including exact sciences, social sciences and humanities, are eligible as candidates. Organisations supporting similar objectives can also apply.

The Rammal Award 2001 has been attributed to Professeur Ahmad Teebi by André Lebeau, Chair of the Rammal Board, in presence of the brother of the late Dr. Rammal and of Gérard Toulouse, the initiator of the award, as well as of several members of the Euroscience Board. The ceremony took place on December 2, 2002, during the 5th European Congress of Pediatric Neurology, to which the recipient participated as a guest speaker. His remarkable lecture addressed the development of reliable and users’ friendly methods for early diagnostic of neurological diseases in infants of developing countries.

Professor Teebi heads the Department of clinical genetics of the Children’s Hospital in Toronto. A Palestinian born in Beirut in 1949, he grew up in Syria and later created the first regional Centre for genetic medicine in Kuwait. There he made major contributions to research, identifying for instance 25 new genetic disorders in arabic populations. He also founded and became the first president of the Middle East Genetic Association, which gathers scientists and clinicians beyond any religious or partisan affiliation. and organised and co-ordinated multicentric care institutions in the Middle East.

But the award also recognises his long term commitment to improve health conditions, in particular those of children, in Palestinian refugee camps, before the Gulf war forced his exile to Canada. The latter activity was of course given due consideration in the process of attributing the award, since nomination criteria stress both the human dimension and the scientific excellence of the candidates.

Curriculum Vitae Professor Ahmad TEEBI
Professor Ahmad Teebi presently leads the clinical genetics Department of sick children in Toronto, Canada. He also teaches paediatrics and genetics at Toronto University. His scientific contribution is internationally recognised in the domain of human genetics, domain in which he published more than 150 papers. In 1997, he published a book on genetic diseases among Arabic populations, which was acclaimed by all critics.

Professor Teebi was born in Beirut in 1949 of Palestinian parents who soon emigrated to Syria, then to Kuwait where he grew up. He was one of the founders of the Kuwaiti Centre for Medical Genetics in 1981, where he started the first program for the detection of neonatal diseases in the Arab world , and identified 25 new genetic diseases among these populations. In 1990, the gulf war broke out while he was visiting the USA, and he was unable to return to his country. This was the starting point of a prestigious North-American career at the universities of Yale, McGill, and finally Toronto. Faithful to his origins, he founded and became the first President of the Middle East Genetics Association (MEGA), which aims at gathering all scientists of this area of the world, regardless of their origin, religion or political beliefs.

His prolific and time consuming scientific production never impeded Professor Teebi from giving his time, expertise and resources to alleviate the suffering of the sick in the Palestinian refugee camps. On multiple occasions he volunteered for humanitarian missions to Palestine, and has been active in promoting such missions.