Dr Shaymaa AlWaheidi is a Project Officer at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon, France, and a Visiting Research Associate at King’s College London. Her work sits at the intersection of cancer policy, health systems, and global oncology, with a particular focus on conflict-affected and resource-constrained settings.

She completed her PhD in Cancer Research at King’s College London, where her research examined breast cancer incidence, survival, and women’s experiences of diagnosis and management in Gaza, occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). As part of her doctoral work, she collected and validated reliable incidence, treatment, and survival data for women diagnosed with breast cancer in Gaza in 2017–2018; these data are now included within the CONCORD programme for global cancer survival surveillance. She continues to support research and collaborative efforts aimed at strengthening cancer care and cancer control in Gaza during and following the recent conflict. Her broader research interests include access to effective cancer care in fragile settings; patient and healthcare providers’ experiences and perceptions of care; health-system determinants of cancer outcomes; and the political economy of cancer care in contexts affected by conflict, constrained resources, and population displacement.

Alongside her academic work, Dr AlWaheidi contributed to the development of the first Palestinian National Cancer Control Plan in collaboration with the World Health Organization. She is also a research affiliate with Research for Health in Conflict (R4HC) in the MENA region.