Dr Hayat Sindi is the first Saudi and Muslim woman in the Middle East to obtain a PhD in biotechnology. She invented MARS, a biotechnology machine, and also co-founded Diagnostics for All, a non-profit that develops disease diagnosis. In 2013 she was appointed to Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council and was one of 26 experts selected for the newly constituted United Nations Scientific Advisory Board by Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. She also became the first Saudi and first female scientist to be selected as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for sciences.