Encouraged to enter the medical field by her father, Ibtihaj Awadelkariem, MLS, first earned a bachelor’s degree in medical technology in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1989. She subsequently began her career, working with numerous hospital and research laboratories before founding Clinical Diagnostic Laboratories in Virginia, where she has excelled as the chief executive officer for the past 20 years. During this time, she furthered her studies at California State University, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in biological science in 2003 and has been additionally certified by the American Association of Bioanalysts. Her decades of experience in the field have resulted in considerable expertise in hematology, microbiology and chemistry.
Attributing much of her success to her hard work and determination, Ms. Awadelkariem has always put concerted focus and effort into reaching her goals and stands out in her field for her background working in a diverse range of hospitals and labs before founding her own lab. In her current role with Clinical Diagnostic Laboratories, she is responsible overseeing the day to day work of the laboratory, delivering reports on time, monitoring equipment and general quality control. Looking toward the future, Ms. Awadelkariem plans to continue to help the laboratory grow and improve. Her goal is to bring the lab to the most advanced, cutting edge of medical technology and make it a known force in the world of lab medicine.
Having accomplished much over the course of her more than two decades in the field, Ms. Awadelkariem considers her most notable achievement to be how much she has grown, and continues to grow, in her skills and knowledge, and never giving up even when things were challenging. She maintains professional affiliation with the American Association of Bioanalysts in order to keep up to date with new developments in lab medicine. In her free time, Ms. Awadelkariem enjoys traveling and spending time with her two adult children, Jasmine and Mohamad.