Saudi women have always been strong, determined to overcome obstacles to their progress and to maintain their presence on the local and international arenas.
Tahani Ja'ar epitomizes such women and more, setting an example to others. 
A young Saudi researcher raised in a family of six as the only daughter, she was born in Taif, moved with her family to the Eastern Province where she finished high school and went to university in Jeddah, specializing in microbiology at King Abdulaziz University. 
Recently she finished her master’s degree.
She became a researcher who obtained several scientific patents, the most important of them being one for a new method that helps reduce the waiting time for detecting cancer.
Speaking of her invention, Ja'ar said: "The needle is used for the early detection of one type or several types of cancer that share the same antigen. The idea came to me while I was enrolled in several courses on innovations. During that time, my father was in hospital. He had been diagnosed with colon cancer (colorectal cancer). The results of the tests needed some time to come out. This was my first drive and motive to search for an easy way to know the results of such tests in a short time, without the patient suffering.
“The needle saves time and effort as the results come out during a very short time,” she said, adding that it can also be used to see if the medication to treat cancer is effective and its price affordable.
Ja'ar added that by 2015 she had got the patent for this innovation from the Saudi Patent Office, and that marked a new beginning for her invention, which benefits the community.
"I had a meeting with Hisham Al-Khashan, assistant deputy minister of health for primary health care centers, some time ago and he expressed interest in, and his admiration for, this innovation," she added.
She said participating in international scientific conferences and exhibitions such as the Geneva exhibition of inventions and many others helped form her character and helped her become an innovator.
Thanking her family for support, Ja'ar said families' role is key in providing an environment conducive to talented and innovative Saudi women, and said that strong will and using opportunities offered can help on have a successful career.
"But some distinguished, talented, Saudi women just stop and do not continue their successful careers because of family pressures, because of some laws that hinder their progress, or because there is not sufficient financial or moral support for them to continue. This is a pity actually, we as women should not surrender when we meet our first obstacle," she said.
Ja'ar believes it is important to establish private universities for inventors or create a special fund to help inventors and researchers. She aspires to contribute in the realization of Vision 2030 through her special interest in higher education.

Source: Arab News