Showcasing the work of WCMC-Q’s research division

January, 2013

The Annual Research Retreat has been held by Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q).

The event is now in its third year and is an opportunity for the college to showcase the achievements of both faculty and students involved in establishing WCMC-Q as a center of excellence for biomedical research in the region.

The event was opened with a speech by Dr. Javaid Sheikh, dean of WCMC-Q, while the keynote address was given by Dr. Thomas Zacharia, executive vice president of research and development at Qatar Foundation. His speech was titled ‘Building a World Leading Research and Innovation Enterprise’.

Dr. Khaled Machaca, associate dean of research at WCMC-Q, gave an overview of the college’s research program and highlighted some of the notable achievements. He also talked about how the program was designed to complement Qatar’s own vision for its future.

Dr. Machaca added: “We have a simple goal that’s quite challenging – to create a center of excellence in basic, translational, biomedical and clinical research. Our goal is to come up with novel discoveries at the bench, apply them to the bedside and eventually in the community and keep assessing and improving the healthcare at the public health level of the population in Qatar and the region.”

Dr. Machaca also spoke of the college’s work in increasing human capacity, telling the audience that 50 research specialists and clinical coordinators have been recruited and trained locally, seven Qatari nationals have been trained in various aspects of biomedical research and that the WCMC-Q student body has been actively involved in laboratory internships over the past three years.

He said: A major goal of the research program is not only to publish papers and come up with novel discoveries but also importantly to build human capacity and technical capacity in Qatar so that whatever is being accomplished is not going to end when a scientist leaves but actually has a continuum and is self-sustained with the know-how that is in the country.”

The retreat was also a chance for all members of Qatar’s research community to network and discuss possible future collaborations. The highlight of the retreat were the poster presentations by students, postdoctoral fellows and research specialist and the faculty talks. The retreat featured dozens of poster presentations with topics including breast cancer, genetics and epidemiology. Lectures were given by various WCMC-Q faculty on subjects, including olfaction, lipid metabolism, gene delivery, the epidemiology of HIV, depression, menopause and the role of the endothelium in tumor progression.

The event closed with awards for the best poster presentations.

The winners were: