Hossam Mahdy is an independent consultant and researcher on built heritage conservation, based in Oxford, UK. He holds a PhD from Glasgow University, an MSc from Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation, and a BSc from Ain Shams University. He is president of ICOMOS-CIAV, a member of ICOMOS-UK, and an advisor to ICOMOS International and the Heritage Commission in Saudi Arabia.​ He has held key roles in heritage conservation, including Head of Conservation at the Department of Culture and Tourism, Abu Dhabi, and Head of Heritage at the Alexandria Mediterranean Research Centre, Bibliotheca Alexandrina. He has consulted for the Getty Conservation Institute on Queens Valley in Luxor and for Egypt’s Ministry of Culture on Historic Cairo. He has also lectured on conservation at South Valley University and other Egyptian institutions.​ His research focuses on culture-specific conservation in the Arab region. He translated Contemporary Theory for Conservation into Arabic and authored Glossary of Arabic Terms for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage and Approaches to the Conservation of Islamic Cities: The Case of Cairo (ICCROM).​