Habiba is an organic chemist whose research interests are in the area of organofluorine chemistry. She works on developing new reactions to introduce fluorine and fluorinated groups to small organic molecules of biological interest using microwave technology. In addition, she is also interested in the design and synthesis of fluorinated analogs of antimalarial drugs whose use is limited due to adverse side effects. Her approach involves strategically introducing fluorinated groups in an attempt to eliminate the side effects.