Dlawer Ala’Aldeen is the Founding President of the Middle East Research Institute (MERI), based in Erbil, Iraq, and a former Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Kurdistan Regional Government (2009-2012). Ala’Aldeen studied Medicine in Baghdad, then started a clinical academic career in the UK and was Professor of Medicine in Nottingham University. He was appointed as Deputy Director of the Centre for Infection in Colindale, London (Health Protection England). Between 1995-2009, Ala’Aldeen held several leadership positions and lead international initiatives in the field of medicine when he was chairman or board member of several professional bodies in the UK. He has been a human right activist and long engaged in capacity-building and nation-building projects in Iraq and Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). He has published extensively on the political dynamics, governance system and democratisation in the Middle East. As a Minister, Ala’Aldeen initiated a major reform program to modernise the system of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Kurdistan Region of Iraq.