Double victory for WCMC-Q in undergraduate research awards

Drs. Hamid Massaeli, Nasrin Mesaeli and Alan Weber with their student team members and Dr. Abdul Sattar Al-Taie, executive director of QNRF

WCMC-Q is celebrating a double success after winning first prize in both of the award categories at the 6th Annual Undergraduate Research Experience Program (UREP) Competition.

WCMC-Q research projects beat off stiff competition from other Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) colleges and Qatar University to scoop first place in both the oral presentation and poster presentation contests.

First prize in the oral presentation category was won by a project led by Dr. Alan Weber, WCMC-Q’s associate professor of English, and Dr. Mohamud Verjee, professor of family medicine. The project, entitled GCC Online Health Information Survey: Typology and Credibility, was presented by second-year medical student Zahra Habibur Rahman and also contributed to by fellow second-year medical students Shajeedha Ameerudeen and Nadeen Al-Baz.

First prize in the poster competition was won by a project entitled Mechanism of regulation of extracellular matrix modification upon endoplasmic reticulum stress; the role of TGF β pathway, led by Dr. Nasrin Mesaeli, associate professor of biochemistry, and research associate Dr. Hamid Massaeli. Second-year medical students Buchra Zakzok and Noor Anabtawi, and first-year medical students Anchalia Chandrakumaran and Lina Irshaid worked on the project.

The results were announced at the UREP Competition awards ceremony held at the HBKU Student Center on March 20.

Dr. Weber, whose project investigated the quality of GCC-based health information websites, said: “I’m extremely pleased that the hard work of the students has been acknowledged with this prize. They dedicated themselves to the project at every step of the way and they thoroughly deserve this success.”

Another project led by Dr. Mesaeli, entitled Characterization of growth factor receptor signaling upon loss of endoplasmic reticulum chaperones and contributed to by second-year medical students Afnan Albahri, Ameen Al-Aghil and Shereen Darwish, won fourth place in the oral presentation contest.

Dr. Mesaeli said: “I am proud of both groups of students from my lab, they did excellent work. They carefully followed instructions in the lab and were fully involved in discussions about the progress of the projects. I’m very pleased with the contributions they made and I am happy that they gained experience that will be of great benefit to them in their future clinical work.”

The UREP program is run by Qatar National Research Fund, a member of Qatar Foundation, and offers funding to enable undergraduate students to take part in research projects.

Dr. Khaled Machaca, associate dean for research, said: “The achievements of our students never cease to amaze me. They are the heart of our institution and I have no doubt will continue to produce at a very high level. Their success is a reflection of the high caliber of research currently ongoing at WCMC-Q. Also our faculty mentors are exceptional in their guidance and leadership. Our gratitude and acknowledgments go out to QNRF for their lucid vision in initiating and supporting the UREP program, without which students in Qatar would not have such opportunities to participate in research at such an early stage in their career.”