GLOBAL AUTISM RESEARCH CENTER

Leadership & Advisory Board

GARC brings together international leadership and multidisciplinary expertise across research strategy, autism-sector leadership, global health, health systems, institutional development, and international collaboration.

Current Board Representation: Syria • Saudi Arabia • United Kingdom • France • Australia

Syria

Dr. Mohammed Abdulkarim Mohammed

President, GARC & Chair of the Advisory Board

Institutional Strategy • Research Strategy • International Development

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Dr. Mohammed Abdulkarim Mohammed is an institutional builder, researcher, and strategic leader focused on research systems, knowledge institutions, strategy, and international development. As President of GARC, he leads the Center’s institutional direction, research development, governance architecture, and global partnerships within the broader GRS Group ecosystem.

Saudi Arabia

Areej Al-Muallem

Vice President, GARC & Vice Chair of the Advisory Board

Autism Sector Leadership • Families • Partnerships • Saudi & GCC Engagement

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Areej Al-Muallem brings leadership experience across the autism sector, family engagement, institutional partnerships, and community impact. Her role at GARC supports strategic engagement with autism organizations, families, stakeholders, and research partners, particularly across Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC region.

United Kingdom

Steve Moore, MBA, MA

Advisory Board Member

Global Health • Health Systems • Strategy • Innovation

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Steve Moore is a healthcare strategist and health-systems leader with extensive experience across the United Kingdom and the Middle East. His work spans global health, health-system transformation, strategic planning, innovation, and healthcare entrepreneurship, with senior roles across healthcare organizations and advisory initiatives.

France

Dr. Nadia Cheaib

Advisory Board Member

Healthcare Leadership • International Engagement • Strategic Networks

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Dr. Nadia Cheaib contributes experience in healthcare leadership, international engagement, strategic networks, and institutional collaboration. Her perspective supports GARC’s development of international relationships, cross-sector connections, and broader strategic engagement across healthcare and research environments.

Dr. Tammie Foster, GARC Advisory Board Member

Australia

Dr. Tammie Foster, BPsych(Hons), PhD

Advisory Board Member

Psychology & Digital Health • Autism & Neurodivergence • AI in Research & Practice

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Dr Tammie Foster is a researcher in psychology and digital health whose work focuses on autism, neurodivergence, legal decision-making, service pathways, and the responsible use of artificial intelligence in research and practice.

She completed her PhD in Psychology at Flinders University, examining the intersection of autism and law, including how remorse is perceived and evaluated in sentencing contexts.

Her current research spans autism service pathways and systems, evidence translation, digital research methods, and human-in-the-loop approaches to AI-supported decision-making.

She is also involved in the development of CAREPath, a contextual and adaptive platform designed to support navigation and decision-making across health, disability, justice, and community service systems.

Dr Foster collaborates across academic, clinical, community, and international research networks, with a particular interest in translating research evidence into practical and equitable systems-level solutions.

LinkedIn Flinders University Institutional Profile

International & Multidisciplinary Leadership

GARC’s leadership model combines institutional strategy, autism-sector experience, health-system expertise, international engagement, and multidisciplinary perspectives. The Advisory Board will continue to develop as GARC expands its international research and institutional network.

The Role of the Advisory Board

The Advisory Board brings complementary perspectives to GARC’s institutional development and research direction. Its contribution is advisory, supporting informed decisions while preserving the responsibilities of leadership, research contributors and appropriate review processes.

Areas of Contribution

Research direction

Offering perspectives on research priorities, evidence gaps and the development of a relevant, multidisciplinary research agenda.

International collaboration

Supporting connections across countries, disciplines and institutions to strengthen knowledge exchange and meaningful research relationships.

Institutional development

Contributing strategic insight to the development of GARC’s research network, partnerships and institutional capacity.

Research Independence & Transparency

GARC seeks to distinguish scientific evidence from interpretation and to make the institutional process behind its work understandable. Advisory membership does not mean that an individual member has reviewed, approved or endorsed every GARC publication or activity.

Read our institutional reference and governance standards