Ali T. Taher

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Ali T. Taher is a Lebanese hematologist and physician-scientist who works on benign blood disorders, especially thalassemia and sickle cell disease. He has written more than 500 research papers on anemia and blood disorders and has won several awards, including the European Hematology Association Education and Mentoring Award, the Kuwait Prize for Medical Sciences, and Lebanon’s National Cedar Medal. He is the Director of the Naef K. Basile Cancer Institute at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC).

Education and career: Taher earned a B.Sc. in Biology (1982) and an M.D. (1986) from the American University of Beirut. He completed an Internal Medicine residency (1987–1989) and a Hematology/Oncology fellowship (1989–1991) at AUB. He did a clinical fellowship at The Royal Free Hospital in London (1991–1992) and earned a Ph.D. from Leiden University Medical Center in 2012 for thalassemia research. He is a tenured Professor of Medicine at AUBMC. His leadership roles include Director of NKBCI, Vice Chair for Research in Internal Medicine, and Associate Vice President for Academic Centers, Development and External Affairs (since July 2024). He also serves as a Thalassemia consultant at the Chronic Care Center and holds international posts as Adjunct Professor at Emory and Visiting Professor at the University of Milan.

Clinical focus and research: Taher specializes in benign hematology, treating thalassemia, sickle cell disease, bleeding disorders, and related conditions. His research covers thalassemia complications, iron chelation, and ways to raise hemoglobin. In 2025, he led a global phase 3 trial of mitapivat for non-transfusion-dependent thalassemia conducted in Lebanon; the drug is under FDA review. A 2021 New England Journal of Medicine review on β-thalassemia he co-authored was the first major update in years.

Awards and publications: He has received many honors and has published widely on thalassemia and iron overload, presenting at many conferences.