Dr. Hatem Khamash is a Palestinian medical doctor whose work experience spans more than two decades. In addition to his role as a consultant and adviser for many organizations and programs that deal with neonatal and pediatric care, his biggest achievement is his outstanding work in the development of the Neonatology Department at Makassed Islamic Charitable Society Hospital. He currently serves as the head of the Neonatal Department – the main and most modern neonatal referral unit in Palestine – where he has worked since 1993. He is listed as a major contributor to the research done on organizing neonatal services in Palestine through the mapping of neonatal services, a project of the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Palestinian National Institute of Public Health, through which a referral protocol for perinatal and neonatal transfer was developed and approved by the MoH. In addition, he is a senior adviser at Juzoor for Health and Social Development and contributes to its training programs. He is also an instructor and course director of the Neonatal Resuscitation Program and the Pediatric Advanced Life Support course provided by the American Heart Association and conducted by Juzoor. Dr Khamash is also an adviser to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in pediatrics and neonatal care.

Dr. Khamash was born in 1960 in Jerusalem. He completed his undergraduate studies in 1984 at the University of Jordan’s School of Medicine. He then continued his studies at the University of Jordan hospital from 1985 to 1987, to specialize in pediatrics, after which he did his training in pediatrics and neonatology in the pediatric, perinatal, and neonatal program at the University of Toronto from 1987 to 1993. His tremendous efforts earned him a fellowship from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 1992, and he obtained a certificate in pediatrics and neonatology. Having spent 15 years studying, working, and living abroad, his love for his land, his people, and his home country was the driving force that compelled him to return home to give back to his people, living in Jerusalem and working throughout Palestine. Dr. Khamash has always felt a passionate loyalty towards his people. He and other colleagues organized a housing society for physicians that built the first housing project for professionals in Jerusalem. It was an enormously challenging task that took more than 20 years to accomplish, but the end result has helped forty families to settle in Jerusalem.
Currently, Dr. Khamash is a member of many national and international pediatrics and neonatal groups, including the Palestine Pediatric Society, the Canadian Pediatric Society, and the European Society of Pediatric Research. In addition, he is a member of the Arab Board of Pediatrics and head of the Arab Sub-Board in Neonatology. He has also been a diplomat of the American Board of Pediatrics and Sub-Board of Neonatology since 1993.
Dr. Khamash has a deep passion for education and teaching. As an associate professor of pediatrics in the School of Medicine at Al-Quds University, he is well-known and recognized for his training of undergraduates and postgraduates in pediatrics and neonatology. Moreover, he initiated the first fellowship training program in neonatology in Palestine at Makassed Hospital. The program is recognized by the Palestine Medical Council and the Arab Medical Council.
Dr. Khamash has published and participated in the publication of several papers on pediatrics and neonatology and has presented them in numerous national and international scientific conferences. With the help of the Ministry of Health, UNICEF, and Juzoor, Dr. Khamash supervised the production of the national neonatal protocol.