Weill Cornell Qatar research team big winners at QF Research Forum 2012 awards

Researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) were honored to win one of the five major research awards at Qatar Foundation’s Annual Research Forum.  

The team of scientists from WCMC-Q collaborated on the research project into the erosion of Qatar’s barchan sand dunes with Cornell University in Ithaca, US. As winners of the Best Environment Research Program of the Year award, they received a grant of $100,000 to continue research efforts for their project titled “Halting the Erosion of Qatar’s Barchan Dunes: A Study on the Synergy between Ripple Motion, Moisture Retention and Microbial Growth within Barchans and How it Can be Exploited to Stop the Erosion of an Active Dune”.

Dr. Renee Richer, Assistant Professor of Biology at WCMC-Q and a Principal Investigator said, “This was so unexpected and a tremendous achievement for our research team. It is fantastic to achieve a really big win for ecology. In the past the focus has tended to be on pollution control and when we focus on the environment it is usually on the energy sector and pollution, whereas our focus has been on basic ecology so this is really big win for basic ecology.”

WCMC-Q’s Research Specialist, Sara Abdul Majid presented the research and was also surprised by the award but admitted that a lot of hard work and preparation went into the project. She said, “I was competing with around 12 other brilliant presenters and their research in various fields including oil, gas and energy. I was surprised and partly floundered by the number of questions I received from the audience and the judges, but I felt, overall, that the presentation went well.  I was very honored to receive the large trophy and a certificate from Dr. Fathy Saoud, President of Qatar Foundation, along with an award of $US100,000 for the continuation of our research. The new funds will facilitate our analysis of microbial synergy with dune geophysics. It will also let us explore the wider dune ecology, including habitat for reptiles and their interactions with dune microbiota.”

The forum hosted more than 1,500 participants and was attended by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, Dr. Mohammad bin Saleh Al- Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry and Dr. Faleh Mohammed Hussein Ali, Assistant Secretary General for Policy of the Supreme Council of Health.

A scientific panel consisting of Nobel Laureates and international experts from relevant disciplines judged the research program abstracts presented at the forum.

Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) as part of a National Priorities Research Program project funded the research. It is a three-year grant with a total budget of $US1,027,721. The project is titled: Understanding the Link Between Moisture Dynamics and Microbial Activity in Mobile Dunes.

WCMC-Q congratulates youngest medical school graduate aged 20

At just 20, Iqbal El-Assaad is the youngest student to graduate from Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar in its 10-year history.

This phenomenally gifted student arrived at WCMC-Q from Lebanon to start medical studies aged just 14 and six years later she successfully completed the challenging MD course to become probably one of the youngest medical doctors in the world.

She graduated from high school at 12 years old. “That’s because I use to skip classes,” Iqbal said. She started schooling at a private school in Lebanon and by the time she finished, her efforts were recognised by the Lebanese Ministry of Education who promised they would get her “something that is really good”. With the assistance of a scholarship from Qatar Foundation and the generosity of her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Iqbal secured a place in the medical program at QCMC-Q.

Iqbal was born and raised in Lebanon. Her father is a small businessman who is in poor health and no longer working actively.

“My dad tells me that when I was really younger, like two years and a half, I used to learn from my other siblings. I learned how to count from one to 10 just by myself and listening to my brothers and sisters who were reciting homework tasks.”

She is the youngest of four children and at aged three years and a half she started kindergarten where teachers observed that she was very advanced for her age. From kindergarten Iqbal went straight to Year 2 and it has been a steady progression of skipping classes through primary and high school since then.

She has an older brother who finished high school when he was 14 now he is doing second year PhD in physics at Lyon University. Another brother has just started working as a mechanical engineer.

 Iqbal’s phenomenal academic achievements are matched by her strong desire to help the less fortunate. Growing up in an underprivileged community where people lack access to primary health care gave her the strength and determination to pursue her education and to become a doctor.

“Living with those Palestinian children in the refugee camps of Lebanon, looking into their eyes and listening to their experiences in their own words touched me deeply,” she said. Remembering their faces and the pain of the struggling community, she felt the urge to become a pediatrician. “Those children and the upcoming generations need a doctor to heal their wounds and someone to be by their side as an advocate to guide them and light their path during their most difficult stages,” Iqbal said.

She is mature beyond her years and admits she was always the youngest member of her class but it was never a problem. She has always had older friends and no problems socializing or getting along with them in the classroom.

Currently her interest is in pediatrics and she is also thinking about doing a pediatric cardiology fellowship in the future. Iqbal was drawn to pediatrics because she grew up hearing dreadful stories about parents and their children suffering because they could not afford treatment. Soon she will be leaving for residency at the Cleveland Clinic for Pediatrics, in Cleveland, Ohio. She is definitely thinking about returning to the Middle East region after training and she is hoping to work between Qatar and Lebanon.

But it is not all work and no play for this young lady. She enjoys watching TV, prefers Real Madrid superstar Ronaldo to Barcelona’s Lionel Messi in the football stakes and even knows that the popular kiddies cartoon character SpongeBob Squarepants lives in a pineapple under the sea.

WCMC-Q Class of 2013 students excel at Match Day with US residency offers

What started out as a long and anxious wait for 31 nervous Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar 2013 graduands ended in excitement and joy when the Match Day results announced from the US were finally released on Friday.

The students were all gathered in the main lecture hall at the Education City campus in the presence of family, friends and academic advisers where they learned where they would be doing their residency training for the next three to seven years of their medical careers.

Match Day is an intensely competitive experience that can shape budding medical careers or shatter high hopes for many. It is also the culmination of a four-year journey for graduating medical students, one of the final hurdles before graduation but equally important in their emerging careers in medicine.

More than 40,000 graduating medical students around the world competed for approximately 25,000 residency positions in the largest match in the National Resident Matching Program's history. More than half of U.S. seniors matched to their first choice and graduating students from WCMC-Q showed similar results.

Eight WCMC-Q graduates will be going to the internationally respected New York Presbyterian Hospital and others are heading off to equally impressive destinations.

WCMC-Q Dean, Dr. Javaid Sheikh congratulated all the students and wished them well for the rest of their careers. “This is a fantastic achievement by our students. These impressive results are a wonderful tribute to their hard work and effort as well as a clear demonstration of the quality of education they have received at WCMC-Q.  Our faculty and staff are very proud of each and every one of them," Dean Sheikh said.

At 20 years of age, Iqbal El-Assaad was the youngest student ever to complete the medical degree at WCMC-Q. She entered medical school at just 14 and was awarded a scholarship by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser. Now she is contemplating a career in pediatrics. Iqbal will be going to the Cleveland Clinic for Pediatrics. She is also thinking about doing a pediatric cardiology fellowship some time in the future.

“I grew up in Palestine hearing dreadful stories about parents and their children suffering because they couldn’t afford treatment. Living with those children, looking into their eyes and listening to their experiences in their own words touched me deeply. Remembering their faces and the pain of my community, I felt the urge to become a pediatrician. Those children and the upcoming generations need a doctor to heal their wounds and be by their side as an advocate to guide them and light their path during their most difficult stages,” Iqbal said.

Ladan Ghajar is also looking forward to a career in pediatrics. She will soon be starting a residency in pediatrics at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire, United States. “After my training, I hope to train in a fellowship program in pediatric endocrinology. There is an increasing prevalence of obese and diabetic children, and I hope to conduct research and educate my patients about preventative care such as diet and exercise. My vision as a physician is to be a leader in clinical care, medical education and research,” Ladan said.

WCMC-Q student affairs and academic counseling director, Donney Moroney said she was delighted with the impressive Match Day results and congratulated the students on reaching this destination after much hard work.

“I have had the pleasure of working with some of these students for the past six years, since their pre-medical program. Our students continue to demonstrate their high level of commitment in the field of medicine and I am confident they will continue to be ambassadors for the medical field but also for the remarkable and pioneering efforts of Qatar.”

WCMC-Q researcher sets the pace with mountain running

Jeremie Rafi Tabrizi works hard as the Assistant Professor in Genetic Medicine in the Research Division at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar and in his spare time he also plays hard, competing in torrid ultra distance trail runs at high altitude in the mountainous regions around France, Italy and Switzerland.

In late September, Dr. Tabrizi spent part of his vacation participating in the annual Ultra Trail Mont du Blanc four-race series that takes in mountain trails and open country along the ‘Grande Randonnée’ paths crossing through the Mont-Blanc, Beaufort, Tarentaise and Aosta valley countryside.

The four races all differ in grade, intensity and distance but have one thing in common. They are equally tough, difficult to master and require a superior level of strength, fitness and determination to finish.

“This has become something of a family event for us,” Dr. Tabrizi said. “We enjoy going there as a family. The kids love the place for the vacation and I enjoy running in the region.

“I started out by running by myself and built up to running in these types of races.  The whole concept has changed a lot and trail running has become very popular. When I first started out there were less than a thousand runners in the different four races now it has increased to over six thousand runners in just four years.”

Over the past few years, Assistant Professor Tabrizi has competed and finished every event in the series. It is regarded as the premier race meeting in international long distance trail running. This season he took on the challenging 119km TDS Sur Les Traces des Ducs de Savoie race that starts at Courmayeur, in northern Italy, in the foothills of Mont Blanc.

The TDS race covers around 119km and goes around Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Western Europe. There is a cutoff time of 31 hours and 30 minutes for the 1400 competitors who reach a height of more than 2,000 meters during the race.

Organizers describe the TDS race as the wild alternative. It is a mountainous event that includes several sections at altitude above 2,500m), in weather conditions that can be very difficult with bitterly cold nights, strong winds, rain or snow. The route takes a narrow passage up to the Col de Gitte at 2322m where runners are greeted by an amazing panoramic view of the mountain chains of Mont Blanc and surrounding peaks before crossing the nose of the Bionnassay glacier by footbridge towards the finish at Chamonix.

“It sounds a whole lot harder than it really is,” Dr. Tabrizi says modestly of his achievements. “Its not as demanding as triathlons or the marathon because it is more building on resistance. So, it is not what I do in this year that affects my race but it is what I have done in the last five years.

“So every year I am going through, it becomes easier for me as I build up resistance. But I have to run at least five to seven hours per week to stay in condition. At this rate you don’t really increase your level. You need to do a lot more running to increase your level of achievement.”

Seven refreshment posts are located along the way where runners are supplied with drinks and food to be consumed on the run. However, the principal of the event is to be semi-self-sufficient and runners have to carry small amounts of food and clothes for the colder areas.

“It can be quite lonely at times. Apart from the refreshment stations, it is not unusual for runners not to see any other competitors for five or six hours. So you are alone. It is a semi-autonomous race.  There was one race where I did not see any competitors except for the end of the day. It’s a mental sport; you have to manage your pain and the desire to stop. It is harder running marathons. But there is also extreme euphoria at the end when you think you are the king of the world.

“The whole concept of these races is – you start it and you go through a range of emotions. Everyone goes through it and you think ‘am I going to finish it or will I have the strength to finish it’.  You have to dig very deep inside yourself to find a good reason to finish it. So you build on the positive images of your life and that keeps you going beyond your limit. It’s a very different psychology. You build more on your mental strength, rather than your physical strength.

“The race time is not so important, it is more the challenge of finishing.  This year was interesting because the race was not long but it rained for 30 hours. It rained almost the whole race and it was very cold. You need to know how to recognize and how to manage the stress of hypothermia.

“At one of the pit stops, 500 people stopped because of hypothermia. They just went through a very difficult task at night and they could not go fast enough to keep up the warm temperature. It is really a challenging race. It is all about how you manage your equipment, how you manage yourself, how you manage your temperature. I was happy to manage that, Dr. Tabrizi said.

International media puts science journalism on the news agenda

The Qatar Foundation hosted more than 600 of the finest science journalists from around the world for the inaugural World Conference of Science Journalists.

The three-day conference, held in Doha, promoted scientific and research excellence. It included plenary and parallel sessions led by international media and science experts on a wide range of topics including biomedicine, exploring the boundaries of science and communication challenges and focused on specific conditions and constraints facing science and science journalism in the Gulf region.

Against a background of science journalism that struggles for editorial content and attention in the news agenda of international print media, the president of Qatar Foundation Dr. Mohamed Fathy Saoud reminded the delegates that the Middle East was the birthplace of countless scientific and intellectual achievements in its Golden Age. “We are now experiencing a science renaissance in which Qatar is playing a prominent role – making this conference particularly relevant for the region,” he said.

Dr. Saoud also stressed the importance of science journalism and the role of the media in reporting scientific and research developments. “Scientists have historically communicated from an ivory tower, but that time is over. We need to bring science to the community.”

This was the largest gathering in Doha of international journalists from the Middle East and North Africa joined by science writers from 86 countries including the United States, the UK, Japan and Germany. The executive director of the World Federation of Science Journalists, Jean-Marc Fleury, told the conference that science journalists had a vital role to play not just in reporting scientific achievements but evaluating them. “With such huge investment in science and research in Qatar, strong science journalism was important for the region,” Mr. Fleury said.

Visiting journalists had an opportunity to learn and observe the many advances that Qatar was making in the core platforms of medicine, biotechnology, information and communications technology, environmental sciences, molecular sciences and nanotechnology.

At Education City, which is home to Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar and the first US medical school to offer its fully accredited medical degree program outside of the US, the Qatar Foundation has also expanded its research and science portfolio by launching world class institutes including the Sidra Medical and Research Center and the Qatar Research Institutes to develop the country’s main issues in biomedicine, energy and environment, and communications.

On a larger scale, Qatar is investing in unlocking the country’s human potential and cultivating a culture of innovation, entrepreneurship and dedication to advancing scientific leadership. Qatar Foundation board member and the Nobel Prize Chemistry winner in 1999, Dr. Ahmed Zewail was a keynote speaker. “Media and science have a huge responsibility towards society,” Dr Zewail said. “I am pleased that this conference in Doha comes at an historic time – the so called Arab Spring. A new era for progress through quest and dissemination of knowledge is now within reach.”

WCMC-Q inducts 33 medical students on to Dean’s Honor List

Doha, February 22, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) celebrated an historic milestone last night  (February 22, 2012) when 33 high achieving pre-medical students were named on the inaugural Dean's Honors List at a ceremony in Education City.

It was the first time in the 10-year history of WCMC-Q that high achieving students were inducted to the Dean’s Honors List. Students who successfully earned a 3.75 GPA or higher in the Fall 2011 term were selected on academic merit to receive the award.

 WCMC-Q Dean, Dr. Javaid Sheikh presented the awards and congratulated the students on their impressive academic achievements and he encouraged the students to continue to strive for excellence. The Dean’s Honors List will become an annual event on WCMC-Q’s academic calendar in recognition of dedication, hard work and high achievements by students.

“I am delighted to applaud the exceptional performance of these students as they are recognized for this significant academic honor.   The inauguration of the Dean’s Honors List reflects the high caliber of WCMC-Q’s student body and from this day forward will be a tradition that is firmly entrenched in the College.

“These young men and women have demonstrated an outstanding level of work to achieve this honor and their commitment and talent is inspiring to all at WCMC-Q.  We are proud to support them and help them achieve their undoubtedly remarkable potential,” Dean Sheikh said.

  

The students who were inducted on to the Dean’s Honor List are Ali Al Jabri, Hamza Oglat, Lama Obeid, Sarah Elsoukkary, Zahra Habibur Rahman, Buchra Zakzok, Ayesha Khalid, Ahmed Saleh, Rebal Turjoman, Shereen Darwish, Josia Schlogl, Shruthi Suresh, Hayaan Kamran, Mostafa Naguib, Alaaeldin Elsayed, Sarah Kanbour, Hamzah Al-Khatib, Amro Wafi, Aya El Jerbi, Perola Lamba, Muhammad Panhwar, Lina Irshaid, Elizabeth Boctor, Omar Falah, Maryem Al Manaa, Shajeedha Ameerudeen, Anchalia Chandrakumaran, Mohammed Sheriff, Khalid Taha, Khalid Al-dasuqi, Risheek Kaul, Vignesh Shanmugam.

NOTE TO EDITORS

Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar is part of Weill Cornell Medical College. It was established in 2001 through a partnership between Cornell University and Qatar Foundation. WCMC-Q offers an innovative educational program that includes a two-year premedical program followed by a four-year medical program leading to the M.D. degree from Cornell University.  Each program has a separate admission process guided by the standards of admission at Cornell University in Ithaca and its Medical College in New York City. 

Website:  http://www.qatar-med.cornell.edu

Epilepsy expert with a passion for improving the lives of others

It has been a long and sometimes rocky road of learning and discovery from war ravaged Lebanon via research laboratories in Gainesville, Florida, to the tranquil surrounds of Education City in Doha for WCMC-Q Professor of Clinical Neurology Dr. Basim Uthman where he holds the deputy chair of neurology. By training, Dr. Uthman is a specialist in neurology and a subspecialist in epilepsy and clinical neurophysiology.  He is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and the American Board of Clinical Neurophysiology.

A world-renowned expert on epilepsy and an internationally respected neurologist, Professor Uthman remains humble to his calling in medicine. He is also passionate about helping others and the need for quality patient care. As a member of faculty in a prestigious medical school at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar and consultant at the affiliated teaching tertiary medical center of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Dr. Uthman embraces the need for high quality undergraduate and graduate medical education that will lead to well-trained, safe, competent and compassionate doctors.

“I like this place, I like to be involved in different things that aim for the benefit of the students and the success of the institution and that drives what I do.  I am the vice chair of neurology and we work closely with the Department of Neurology at the Weill Cornell campus in New York and colleagues at HMC,” Dr. Uthman said.

Born in Tripoli, Lebanon, Dr. Uthman moved to Beirut to complete his final years of high school before starting a baccalaureate degree on a scholarship. His schooling was interrupted at the American University in Beirut when civil war broke out in Lebanon in 1975.  Nonetheless, he managed to graduate on the Dean’s Honors list with a degree in biology and chemistry and then started medical school a few months later.

During his time at medical school, Dr. Uthman did a few months of electives in the US and by the time he graduated he decided to move on to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he completed a three-year residency in neurology. This was followed by a year of fellowship in clinical physiology and epilepsy.  

“Then I moved to the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, and worked with world renowned epileptologist, Dr. B.J. Wilder and learned the ropes about clinical research, how to run clinical trials in epilepsy and neurodegenerative disease.  I feel blessed I was at the right place and the right time when I had the opportunity to be one of the first pioneers to study the safety feasibility of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), a novel untraditional therapy for patients with refractory epilepsy,” Dr. Uthman said.

“After years of hard work and large, pivotal, double-blind and controlled multicenter clinical trials my colleagues and I proved the effectiveness of VNS in treating seizure disorders. Several years after we started our work in 1988 the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved VNS, in July 1996, as an adjunctive therapy for patients with intractable partial onset epilepsy.”

There are now more than 60,000 patients that are implanted with this device in the world.

For relaxation, Dr. Uthman likes nothing more than to hit a few tennis balls around the court and he also has a love of cooking. “That is only when my wife allows me into the kitchen,” he said. He enjoys spending time with his family that includes three young children.  “More recently I started going to the Qatar Music Academy because my children have started going there last year and I want to encourage them. So I have started taking lessons with them. I am learning the clarinet,” he said.

In the three years that he has been at WCMC-Q, Dr. Uthman, colleagues and staff have been organizing and delivering the Medicine and U public lecture series as a means of raising awareness about illness in the community. “To me as a doctor, I feel that part of our obligations to the community where we live is to educate the community. So if I can help even as few as one more patient from a talk that a colleague or I give or moderate, I want to do that,” he said.

As a relative newcomer to Qatar, he remains undaunted by the difficulties that newcomers often encounter. In an unflappable style, he remains positive and ready to help wherever he can.

“People talk about coming to a new environment and you always feel like a bit of a stranger. Well, in my opinion as it developed when I was a scout in childhood, people that move to live anywhere in the world, they should make that place their community. When they grow a sense of ownership in that community, they get involved with that community in whichever expertise they have. Then they will no longer feel as strangers. They will feel like a part of that community.”

In being a part of the community in Qatar, Dr. Uthman also hopes to start a Gulf Epilepsy Foundation in the region. He is hoping to raise awareness of epilepsy in Qatar and the GCC region. He was asked by the International League against Epilepsy to lead a task force that included colleagues in K.S.A., U.A.E. and Lebanon to come up with statements that would apply to the lives of patients with epilepsy and policies regarding epilepsy -- for example driving with epilepsy.

“What I am hoping for is that we can partner with the government and we have a wonderful government here in Qatar. They are progressive and very open to improvement of lives of people in general,” Dr. Uthman said.  “Qatar is a good working place and safe and nurturing environment for my young family; I look forward to many years of productivity.”