Hesham Sallam is an Egyptian professor at both the School of Sciences and Engineering at The American University in Cairo (AUC) and the Department of Geology at Mansoura University, Egypt. He founded the Mansoura University Vertebrate Paleontology (MUVP) Center in 2010, establishing the first dedicated vertebrate paleontology lab in Egypt. In addition, he leads the Sallam Lab, a research team composed of Egyptian promising students working under his supervision.

Sallam received his bachelor's degree from the Department of Geology at Mansoura University in 1997 and earned his doctorate from the University of Oxford (UK) in 2010. He was promoted to full professor in 2022, becoming the country’s first Egyptian professor of vertebrate paleontology.

Sallam was recognized for his research and leadership when he was selected as the Middle East–North Africa recipient of the British Council’s Study UK Alumni Science and Sustainability Award (2021–2022). He was also named Mansoura University’s Figure of the Year in 2019. In 2023, he received the prestigious Robert Lynn Carroll Award for his contributions to vertebrate paleontology. Additionally, the Sallam Lab team has been awarded several national and international research grants, including those from National Geographic, the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology and the Science, Technology and Innovation Funding Authority (STDF), supporting their groundbreaking research in Egypt.

Sallam is an appointed member of the National Committee for Geological Sciences and the Egyptian Young Academy of Sciences, part of the Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology. In 2022, he was appointed to the Council of Egyptian Culture and Knowledge by the Egyptian Minister of Higher Education. He is also a member of the scientific committee for the protected areas of Qarun and Wadi El-Rayan, under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Sallam’s scientific research has been published in numerous high-profile academic journals, including Nature Communications; Nature Communications Biology; Nature Ecology and Evolution; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS); Proceedings of the Royal Society B, PLoS ONE, PeerJ; and Geology. Furthermore, he has been a visiting scholar at Duke University, Stony Brook University, Ohio University and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, USA.

The Sallam Lab maintains active paleontological field projects in Egypt, leading to the discovery of the most complete dinosaur known from the entire Late Cretaceous of Africa (Mansourasaurus) and ancient whales, including the amphibious-lifestyle Phiomicetus and Tutcetus, the latter being the smallest and one of the most primitive early fully aquatic whales known to date. Recently, his team discovered Bastetodon, a new species of Paleogene mammal. The Sallam Lab is also investigating Egyptian faunal assemblages associated with Paleogene hyperthermal events, contributing to the understanding of climate change’s impact on ancient ecosystems.

Sallam Lab has participated in several documentaries showcasing Egypt’s paleontological discoveries, including When Whales Could Walk by NOVA and The Mysterious Valley of the Whales by CBC.

Currently, Sallam Lab is dedicated to training the next generation of Egyptian vertebrate paleontologists, expanding public awareness of Egypt’s paleontological resources and leading efforts in fossil collection, preparation, study and curation.