Faisal Mohammed Al Suwaidi, President of Research and Development at Qatar Foundation, with the awardees at Qatar National Convention Centre yesterday. Shaival Dalal
By Fazeena Saleem
DOHA: Joint Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum and Arab Expatriate Scientists Network Symposium yesterday honoured four academics and eight students for their excellence in pioneering innovative scientific research at an awards ceremony held at the Qatar National Convention Centre.
The professional and student researchers including two from international institutions were recognised for their work in bio-science, energy, environment, computing arts, social science, humanities and Islamic studies.
The research programmes selected for awards received a monetary grant to continue their research efforts.
“It is a true honour to award these talented scientists grants, as they will not only advance their own ambitions, but the agenda of Qatar’s National Research Strategy. Human capital is what drives research, and we must continue to find ways to invest in those who can help carry out the strategy’s implementation,” said Faisal Alsuwaidi, President of Research and Development at Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development.
“I have no doubt that these winners will further Qatar’s ongoing development in the fields of energy and environment, computing and information technology, health and social sciences,” he added.
The winners were selected from more than 180 national, regional and international institutes who have submitted 658 abstracts for expert review at the joint Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum and Arab Expatriate Scientists Network Symposium.
The abstracts are comprehensively reviewed by an expert committee comprised of 75 international scholars, academics, researchers, and scientists including members of the Arab Expatriate Scientists Network.
The award for best Health and Biomedical Research Programme of the Year was awarded to Lotfi Chouchane from Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, in collaboration with Brown University, US; National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, US; and Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar, for TNRC9 (TOX3) down regulates BRCA1 expression and promotes breast cancer aggressiveness.
Nimir Elbashir, from Texas A&M University at Qatar was awarded for the Best Energy and Environment Research Programme of the Year, for Multi scale investigations leading to the design of a novel Fischer-Tropsch reactor for gas-to-liquid processes.
The award for the Best Computing and Information Technology Research Programme of the Year was given to Khaled Harras, fromCarnegie Mellon University in Qatar in collaboration with Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology, Egypt, for OPERETTA: An optimal deployable energy efficient bandwidth aggregation system.
Ayman Shabana from Georgetown University - School of Foreign Service in Qatar, won the award for the Best Arts, Behavioural and Social Sciences, Humanities, and Islamic Studies Research Programme of the Year for Sustaining Islamic bioethics research.
The award for the Best Student Health and Biomedical Research of the Year went to Maen D Abou Ziki, from Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar for High prevalence of the ApoE Arg145Cys dyslipidemia at-risk polymorphism in African-derived populations.
Momina Zakzok from Qatar University won the award for the Best Student Energy and Environment Research of the Year for Concentrations and bioaccumulation of trace metals in soft sediments of mangroves, east coast of Qatar.
Dania Abed Rabbou, fromCarnegie Mellon University in Qatar won the Best Student Computing and Information Technology Research of the Year, for her extending the reach of social-based context-aware ubiquitous systems.
Diaa Noufal from University of Angers, France, was given the award for the Best Student Arts, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Humanities, and Islamic Studies Research of the Year for Social sustainability and the historical district projects: Souq Waqif in Qatar as a case study.
The best student poster presentation awards were given to Omayma Alsaei from Qatar University, Shamsa Al Khanjari, Ruwan Al Saad at the Qatar University and Asma Alfadala from the University of Cambridge.
The three-day forum will conclude today. The event has been a tremendous success, bringing over 2,000 delegates from around the world together at Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC).
Following an introductory speech by H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and community Development, the first day of the conference featured an array of informative announcements and panel discussions. The highly anticipated Qatar National Research Strategy was unveiled, followed by the National Cancer Research Strategy. Additionally, an overview of Arab Expatriate Scientists Network (AESN) initiatives was presented, along with a lecture on innovation in sustainable development.
The AESN panel was presented and moderated by Dr Nabeel Al Salem, Deputy Director of Qatar National Research Fund, who hailed the cooperation between the forum’s organisers. “One of the highlights of yesterday’s event was that it was a joint forum between the ARF and Arab Expatriate Scientists Network,” he said.
“These two institutions have really come together to make the three days a true success. It’s a very exciting and enriching moment because during the past years at Qatar Foundation many centres were created and were a product of the AESN. Today we are able to see these institutes come to reality and are actually on the ground. To go forward and to take this initiative to the next level is significant. Our endeavours are definitely gaining momentum.” The Peninsula
