‘Bridging the Gaps’ An Interview with Ph.D student Hana Al-Bannay By Trina Moran When it comes to improving the lives of fellow community members, the story of Hana Al-Bannay outshines the rest. Hailing from Qatif, Saudi Arabia, Hana is pursuing her Ph.D in rehabilitation sciences at the University of British Columbia. Her dissertation focuses on improving the health of Saudi Arabian Muslim women through education related to lifestyle conditions with special reference to type 2 diabetes mellitus. Hana began her academic career at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia’s capital city, Riyadh, and finished her first degree with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English Language. Shortly after finishing her English degree, Hana worked at a military based hospital as an interpreter. It is here that Hana became interested in the medical field. In addition, working with a large number of international employees inspired her to study abroad, leading her to Canada. In 2003 Hana completed a BA in Sociology at the University of Victoria and went on to pursue a master’s thesis at Royal Rhodes University focusing on the B.C. Arab community experiences with the Canadian health system. Aiming to finish her doctoral thesis by 2013, Hana hopes that the impact of her research at UBC will aid in designing health education programs suitable for the lifestyle of Muslim women in Saudi Arabia, empowering Saudi and Muslim women to pursue healthy living, and decreasing the prevalence of lifestyle conditions including type 2 diabetes mellitus in Saudi Arabia. A recent medical study notes that since the late 1980s there has been an increasing trend among adult Saudis of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus, the rate being one in five. Other studies have concluded that a rise in obesity, hypertension, and coronary artery disease are the most...