She received her undergraduate degree from the
University of Baghdad, followed by a
master's in microbiology from
Texas Woman's University in
Denton, Texas. She spent four years at the
University of Missouri pursuing a
doctorate in microbiology, which she received in December 1983. Her thesis focused on the effects of
radiation,
paraquat and the
chemotherapy drug
Adriamycin, on bacteria and mammals. She was appointed to the
Revolutionary Command Council in May 2001. In one of several videos that Saddam released during the war, Ammash was the only woman among about a half-dozen men seated around a table. The videos were broadcast on Iraqi TV as invading forces drew closer to Baghdad: it is not known when the meeting took place or what the significance was of her appearance on camera. She served as president of Iraq's microbiology society and as dean at the
University of Baghdad. U.S. officials said she was trained by
Nassir al-Hindawi, described by
United Nations inspectors as the "father of Iraq's
biological weapons program". She conducted research into illnesses that may have been caused by
depleted uranium from shells used in the 1991 Gulf War, and had published several papers on the health effects of the war and the subsequent sanctions.
Capture Ammash surrendered to coalition forces on 9 May 2003 and was one of two Iraqi women known to be in U.S. custody as of April 2005. The other was the British-educated
Rihab Taha, who led Iraq's biological weapons program until 1995. In August 2005, the
American Association for the Advancement of Science called for Ammash to be either sent to trial or released: According to
Times Higher Education, "The organisation [AAAS] has not issued the statement lightly. Senior figures including
Alan Leshner, chief executive officer of the AAAS, were involved in drawing it up." Ammash was also said to be suffering from breast cancer. ==Family==