Abdallah Lamane, a Moroccan engineering student, never imagined that his destiny would lead him to the heights of American higher education.
However, this 24-year-old has not only just obtained the precious sesame to enter Harvard University in Boston, United States, but he is also the first Moroccan to be admitted to the prestigious doctoral program “Health Sciences And Technologies” of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard Medical School.
“I never imagined I would be able to go to Harvard. A dream that inspires many. It is now my responsibility to carry high the colors of Moroccan excellence within this prestigious institution,” Abdallah Lamane told MAP, on the occasion of a tribute paid to him with his parents, during a reception Friday at the headquarters of the Moroccan embassy in Paris, rejoicing at the warm welcome reserved for him by the ambassador of King Mohammed VI, Samira Sitail.
Born into a modest Moroccan family, whose father is from Casablanca and mother from Marrakech, and having grown up in a district of Chanteloup-les-Vignes, in the Paris suburbs, Abdallah Lamane has had a remarkable career. He attended the Janson-de-Sailly preparatory high school in Paris before continuing his studies at CentraleSupélec, one of the largest engineering schools in France. At each stage of his life, he was able to overcome obstacles and progress towards success.
Since social mobility was not at his service, Abdallah, who always wears a smile, counted on the support, sacrifice and continued motivation of his parents.
“The values instilled by my parents have constantly inspired me to aim high, both in my studies and in my personal life,” he says.
“My acceptance to the doctoral dissertation at Harvard is the culmination of 24 years of education, it’s the little icing on the cake,” he says, adding that “it’s the best gift I could have given to my parents for all their sacrifices.”
The selection process at Harvard for this program, one of the oldest in biomedical engineering in the world, is extremely rigorous, with applicants competing against students from all corners of the globe. According to the young Moroccan student, the University is looking for people with varied backgrounds and engaged in research. Abdallah, with his “excellent” record, his “cultural diversity” and his “rage to win”, was able to distinguish himself.
His education and research also took him to Stanford, where he won a fellowship for an internship last year. After this six-month internship, he completed his gap year at Harvard University, in one of the medical school’s hospitals.
“I will return there in September for the joint thesis between Harvard and MIT in the field of the use of artificial intelligence for medical imaging,” he said.
“The idea of my doctoral thesis, which will last between four and five years, is to deepen the subjects on which I have worked, in particular the use of AI in medical imaging. It’s about helping radiologists and oncologists automate certain repetitive tasks using the latest AI models,” explains Abdallah, who toured French television sets recently, sharing his incredible journey and inspiring thousands of young people. .
According to him, medical imaging, a growing sector, could transform the way doctors work on a daily basis. “This makes it possible to precisely locate tumors and direct radiation in a targeted manner for more effective treatment. »
“I am very happy to be able to join the Moroccan community in Boston and to continue to deepen the links between American and Moroccan research,” he said.
Abdallah also said he was “amazed” by the programs of several universities in the Kingdom, notably those of the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Benguerir.
“Morocco today is changing rapidly, it is growing at a rapid pace,” he emphasizes, not without pride, affirming that he has “a very deep connection with his country of origin.”
And he added: “Moroccan education and culture were an essential pillar in my youth and continue to be so today in my identity.”
Abdallah’s mother, Saida El Idrissi Daffali, said she was “very happy” about her son’s achievement and “very proud” of the tribute paid to them by the Moroccan ambassador.
“We instilled in our children the love of the country. The ancestral values of our country. Moreover, we go at least once a year to Morocco so that the children maintain the link with their country and also so that they discover its culture and its heritage,” this mother of three children, two, told MAP. boys and a girl, all with honorable backgrounds.
“It is every parent’s dream to see their children succeed. It is more than an accomplishment. Abdallah has always been excellent and has always had very good grades,” rejoiced his father Brahim Lamane.
“He is very determined and we wish him a lot of courage,” added Mr. Lamane, who has been living in France since 1989, praying for the success of all the country’s children who aim to make their most daring dreams come true.
