DOHA: Molecular cancer research was the focus of the recent 2014 Qatar University Life Sciences Symposium, an annual forum organised by the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences at Qatar University’s College of Arts and Sciences.
It aimed to bring together researchers, experts and scientists to exchange ideas and promote the creation and dissemination of rapidly-growing knowledge in molecular cancer research.
A total of 272 experts from Qatar and other countries, including the Netherlands, the US, France, Italy, Spain, Bahrain and the UAE, attended.
Dr Eiman Mustafawi, Dean of the college, said, “This year we are focusing on the growing global issue of cancer that affects people across the world and accounts for around 10 percent of all deaths in Qatar. “Qatar’s National Cancer Research Strategy emphasises the importance of developing a programme of translated cancer research and prioritising and coordinating cancer research activities in Qatar.
“By hosting this international symposium, the college is supporting the national strategy by bringing in speakers of the highest calibre from around the world to disseminate research and create new connections and collaborations.”
The two-day forum had four sessions on epigenetics and cancer; complementary alternative medicines for cancer prevention and treatment; cancer drug discovery: Molecular approaches; and environment and cancer.
It also featured an exhibition of nine posters by undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate and post-doctorate students on breast cancer cell line, hydrocarbon degrading bacterial strains for bioremediation of petroleum pollution, and fungal population and aflatoxin contamination, among others.
Prof Johannes Bos, Director, Cancer Genomics Centre, the Netherlands Genomics Initiative and Centre for Biomedical Genetics, and Chairperson of Division of Biomedical Genetics of University Medical Center Utrecht gave a presentation on ‘Targeting the Ras pathway for personalised cancer treatment.’
He said Ras genes mutations play a role in 50 percent of all tumours, especially in colon, lung and pancreatic cancer. He also talked about the exquisite resistance of mutant Ras for targeted therapies using human tumour organoids. The Peninsula
