NewsDetail
Doha, January 17, 2012: The life changing work and achievements of biomedical researchers at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) have been showcased at the Corporation’s Annual Research Day.
This is an important step as HMC continues towards its goal of creating an internationally competitive Academic Health System (AHS), which will pioneer the best healthcare and research to benefit all in Qatar.
The achievements of HMC researchers were recognized by their colleagues at an event at HMC’s Clubhouse with seven oral presentations about recent work as well as poster presentations about their findings.
Hanan Al Kuwari PhD, Managing Director of HMC, congratulated the Corporation’s researchers who have gained recognition with 12 successful proposals winning nearly QR40 million in grants from the Qatar National Research Fund in the fourth cycle of funding. This is a funding of increase of 64 percent on the third cycle of QNRF funding in 2011. Additionally, in HMC’s internal Grants Scheme, 11 projects were awarded QR3.24 million in funding.
Dr. Al Kuwari said that this award winning research represented strong foundations for the pursuit of medical and academic excellence through the AHS initiative. The AHS will aim to address Qatar’s complex healthcare challenges through collaborative research, education, community engagement and the pursuit of innovative solutions.
“The Medical Research Center at HMC is developing and maintaining a vibrant research culture in line with our National Vision for a knowledge based economy. Researchers and other healthcare professionals in HMC, working in collaboration with our partner institutions, are growing our intellectual capital for the benefit of all,” Dr. Al Kuwari said.
“Qatar’s focus on translational research means that HMC is at the forefront of pioneering new research and discoveries, and bringing them directly to the wards and bedsides to treat patients as soon as they have been safely tested.”
HMC is currently working on establishing a Translational Research Institute which will provide state of the art research facilities in translational and clinical research. The facility will consolidate all research groups across HMC and encourage collaboration and innovation in areas such as bioinformatics, biostatistics, ethics, molecular imaging, genomics and proteomics and clinical trials.
In recent months HMC’s leading researchers have been recognized within Qatar and internationally for their work on health issues facing our community.
A team of researchers including Dr. Hanadi Elayoubi was awarded Best Biomedical Research Program at the recent Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum; the second year in a row that it was won by HMC.
Meanwhile a team of HMC researchers, led by Dr. Jassim Al Suwaidi and Dr Waleed M. Ali, also received international recognition after their findings that khat increases risk of death and stroke in patients with heart disease was published in the prestigious Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Dr. Abdulbanari Bener also won plaudits for his recently published work on gestational diabetes in Qatar and the impact on infant health – Prevalence of gestational diabetes and associated maternal and neonatal complications in a fast-developing community: global comparisons.
Dr. Abdulla Al Ansari achieved recognition for his clinical trial findings on the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia when he was published in the Journal of European Urology. Dr. Fahmi Yousef Khan was published in the Journal of Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease for his successful study based on Hamad General Hospital about the epidemiology of bacteraemia.
