Hatem Tallima obtained his BSc in chemistry, with a specialization in clinical chemistry, with excellent high honors from The American University in Cairo (AUC) in Spring 2000. In 2002, he was awarded the Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation Award and Grant. Tallima got both his MSc and PhD degrees in 2003 and 2006, respectively, in biochemistry from Cairo University. His research areas of interest include developing and synthesizing peptides and other bio-organic molecules to be used as drugs, drug carriers, and vaccines to treat tropical diseases such as schistosomiasis and fascioliasis. Tallima also went into cancer research via the synthesis and modification of alternative drugs using organic chemistry expertise. 

Tallima joined AUC as an adjunct faculty at the Department of Chemistry in 2006 and was appointed as a full-time assistant professor of organic and medicinal chemistry in 2017.