Alaa Najjar
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علاء نجار
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Najjar in 2019
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| Education | Alexandria University, faculty of medicine (MB Bch) |
| Occupation(s) | Doctor, researcher, Wikipedian |
| Awards | Wikimedian of the Year (2021)[1] |
Alaa Najjar (Arabic: علاء نجار) is a physician,[2] Wikipedian and internet activist, who was named the Wikimedian of the YearatWikimania in August 2021 by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales for his pioneering role in the development of the Arab and medical communities as well as for his role in the development of COVID-19 topics.[2][3][1][4]
With the Wikipedia username علاء (ʿAlāʾ), Najjar is an active contributor to WikiProject Medicine and a volunteer administrator in the Arabic Wikipedia and a Wikimedia steward.[1][5] He is a board member of Wikimedians of the Levant User Group[6][7] and an editorial board member of the WikiJournal of Medicine.[8][1][3]
Najjar graduated from Alexandria University, faculty of medicine in January 2021 with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MB Bch).[9] He is currently employed in “a very busy public hospital”, he told The National in 2021.[3]
Najjar is an active contributor since 2014, and most of his edits focus on medicine-related articles. He also serves as an administrator on Arabic-language Wikipedia and in several other roles on different projects of Wikimedia Foundation.[3] He is also a board member of Wikimedia Group in the Levant[6] and editorial board member of the WikiJournal of Medicine since December 2018.[8] Also, he is a member on the Arabic Wikipedia's official social networking team.[1] [10]
He spearheaded the COVID-19 project on the Arabic encyclopedia and majorly contributes to the WikiProject Medicine. Najjar's work helps to combat medical misinformation and confront the pandemic with reliable, fact-checked information.[1]
He was named the Wikimedian of the Year on 15 August 2021 by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales.[11] Najjar was praised for his pioneering role in the development of the Arab and medical communities as well as for his role in the development of COVID-19 topics.[12][3] Because of travel restrictions, Wales could not personally deliver the award to Najjar as per standard practice, but instead spoke to him in a surprise Google Meet call.[2]
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| Newcomer of the Year |
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| Wikimedia Laureate |
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| Wikimedia Affiliate Spotlight |
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Medicine
