Tarek Loubani

Tarek Loubani is a Canadian doctor and humanitarian. He runs the Glia Project, which seeks to provide medical supplies to impoverished locations, and invented a low-cost stethoscope in 2015.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]} He serves as an assistant professor at the University of Western Ontario and works in emergency rooms.^[7]

In 2013, along with filmmaker John Greyson, he was arbitrarily arrested and spent seven weeks in Egypt's Tora Prison without charges.^{[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]}

Early life and education

Loubani was born in Kuwait and lived in Palestine as a child.^[9] He is the son of Mahmoud Loubani, who works at a medical clinic in New Brunswick.^[16] When he was nine years old, his family immigrated to Bathurst, New Brunswick as refugees.^[16][17] He attended high school in Bathurst before studying medicine at Dalhousie University and the University of Western Ontario.^[16]

Career

Loubani began serving as an assistant professor at the University of Western Ontario in 2010.^[7]

Humanitarian work

In 2015, Loubani designed a low-cost stethoscope which could be made for $2.50 using a 3D printer. He runs the Glia Project, which seeks to provide medical supplies to impoverished areas and has created designs for 3D printable surgical tools such as needle drivers and pulse oximeters.^[1]

Detainment in Egypt

On August 15, 2013, Loubani and Greyson arrived in Egypt, intending to travel to Gaza.^[18] On August 16, they were arrested and detained in Tora Prison, where they spent weeks without charges and were subjected to physical violence and harsh conditions.^[19]

References