B • QATAR CHRONICLE QATAR CHRONICLE CONTENTS 3 7 9 The magazine of Weill Cornell Diabetes and New York approves The Clinical Skills Medicine-Qatar metabolism exemption for Center: A decade students of innovation Published by the Office of Communications DEAN Javaid Sheikh, MD CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER 20 26 29 Nesreen M. Al-Rifai Teaching children to New hope in Making Qatar cook healthy food fighting fat smoke-free EDITOR through TV Richard Harris SENIOR WRITER John Hayward PHOTOGRAPHER John Samples 30 36 42 Researcher sheds Genetic research Inspiring scientists light on ‘obesity project investigates of the future paradox’ smoking 2 • QATAR CHRONICLE QATAR CHRONICLE • 3 Dr. Javaid Sheikh (center), with the high-achieving students. Diabetes Students honored for and Dr. Karsten Suhre. academic achievements metabolism Researchers at WCM-Q have made new discoveries about the effects of bodily fluids the researchers at WCM-Q were able to identify many new Twenty-four students have been honored for their academic success Two Dean’s Honors Lists are published in each academic year to record type-2 diabetes on human metabolism and developed a holistic under- diabetes-associated metabolites, enhancing the body of knowledge by being inducted onto the Dean’s Honors List. the achievements of students in the Fall and Spring semesters, an standing of biochemical changes that are associated with the disease. that exists about the disease. initiative that began with the Fall 2011 semester and has since become The 24 are all pre-medical students at WCM-Q and were honored at a WCM-Q tradition. The researchers cross-referenced observations of blood, urine and In addition, the WCM-Q scientists used the research data to create a a ceremony at Hamad Bin Khalifa Student Center at Education City. saliva samples from diabetes patients with those of healthy individuals, comprehensive “map” of the complex network of metabolic reactions Each of the students achieved a 3.75 grade point average during the The students inducted to the Dean’s Honors List for the Spring 2015 allowing them to characterize episodes of abnormal blood sugar levels underlying type-2 diabetes. This will serve as a reference tool for Spring term, meaning they could be inducted on to the honors list of semester were: Chandrakumaran Abivarma, Huda Alalami, Said across a wide range of different time scales, varying from 6-12 hours researchers as they try to develop new biomarkers for early detection Dr. Javaid Sheikh, dean of the college. In addition, six students from the Alnajjar, Fatema Al-Wahshi, Tina Bharani, Welathanthrige Botheju, up to 2-3 months. of diabetes and more effective therapies to treat the disease. college’s Foundation Program were also recognized for their academic Farah Bshesh, Nada Darwish, Syeda Razia Haider, Merna Hussien, Gi work, having also achieved GPAs of 3.75 or higher. Eun Kim, Menatalla Mekhaimar, Suresh Menik Arachchige, Priyamvada Previous studies have examined the three different sample types sepa- Dr. Karsten Suhre, professor of physiology and biophysics at WCM-Q, Pillai, Haneen Qadourah, Ahmed Daniyaal Rasheed, Cleo Zarina Reyes, rately but the WCM-Q team found that they could learn more about led the research. He said: “The metabolites in each type of sample tell Congratulating all the students on their academic achievement, Dr. Sherin Sallam, Zaid Shahrori, Mohamed Soliman, Aya Tabbalat, Tarek diabetes by interpreting them together to give what they call a “systems us different stories about biological processes happening in various Sheikh said: “I am delighted to be here once again to applaud the hard Taha, Sharan Yadav and Aya Youssef. view” of the disease. parts of the body and over different time scales. By analyzing the work and dedication shown by all of you. Achieving an academic score three different sample types together we were able to improve our of this caliber is no mean achievement and is testament to the quality The Foundation Program students recognized for their work were: The research is based on the analysis of metabolites, which are understanding of the interactions between different organs and tissues of students enrolled at Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar. Salma Al-Mohannadi, Moza Almohannadi, Fatima Al-Khayat, Ramez substances produced by biochemical processes in the body and that in the development and progression of diabetes. Bodair, Hissa Al-Hail and Fatima Al-Binali. ● can be found in bio-fluids such as blood, urine and saliva. For many “These young men and women have worked exceptionally hard and years, medical science has known that several metabolites are associ- “This means we are getting a comprehensive and interactive view of are an inspiration to all.” ated with diabetes. By extending the scope of the study to multiple the way diabetes impacts the health state of our body. You could say 4 • QATAR CHRONICLE QATAR CHRONICLE • 5 Healthcare students unite for IPE Research Day Healthcare students from universities across Doha convened at WCM-Q by all of the students will have a very positive impact on the health of to share the results of their research at the inaugural Inter-Professional the community in years to come.” Dr. Noha AbdelRahman Yousri led the analysis of the project. Education (IPE) Research Day. Dr. Alla El-Awaisi, assistant dean for student affairs and chair of the Students from four universities met to discuss their research projects Interprofessional Education Committee from Qatar University, College and competed to win awards for the best poster and oral presenta- of Pharmacy, recognized the effort and hard work of the IPE student tion of their research project at the event, which was organized by society. She also conveyed the importance of such collaboration. the students themselves through the newly formed Inter-Professional “Through building this IPE committee, our current and future health- it is as if we are looking at the activity of an entire house, rather than timescales of glycemic control, enables us to better understand the Education Student Society – Qatar (IPE-SS). care students will learn to understand, respect, and implement the just looking at what is happening in each room separately.” effect of the disease on the different organs. core values of inter-professional collaboration: teamwork, mutually The IPE-SS was established one year ago and has students from various supportive relationships, knowledge-sharing and problem-solving,” The study, which was carried out by WCM-Q scientists in collabora- “Future research will benefit from this advance because scientists professions, including medical students from WCM-Q, pharmacy and she said. tion with physicians at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), analyzed will be able to use the map we have created to target networks of health science students from Qatar University, nursing students from samples from 188 diabetes patients and 181 control patients of Arabic metabolites when attempting to design new diabetes drugs. The the University of Calgary in Qatar and various health science students Speaking in her capacity as president of the IPE-SS, Myriam Jihad Jamm and Asian descent. The paper describing the research, entitled ‘A research might also enable clinicians to identify patients at earlier from the College of the North Atlantic Qatar. The research day marked of Qatar University, College of Pharmacy, said: “With events such as systems view of type-2 diabetes-associated metabolic perturbations stages in the development of type-2 diabetes in order to prevent the very first IPE activity that the society has organized and participated this we hope to develop further the good communications between our in saliva, blood and urine and different timescales of glycemic control’, further complications.” in together. colleges, to learn about each other’s values and to understand our own has now been published in Diabetologia, a leading medical journal roles more clearly. Advances in medicine and technology are occurring in the diabetes field. The study was aided by funding from the Biomedical Research Program IPE is a concept and a movement that aims to bring students of different so quickly that it is crucial for us to share the latest developments in (BMRP) program of Qatar Foundation, which supports the research disciplines together to learn about each other’s roles and foster collabo- our respective fields with each other so that we can provide the very The paper was co-authored by HMC physicians Dr. Mohammed effort at WCM-Q. ration and cooperation. IPE is particularly relevant in the medical context best care to patients.” M. El-Din Selim, Dr. Ahmed H. Takiddin, Dr. Hala Al-Homsi and Dr. because it brings together students of medicine, pharmacy, nursing and Khoulood Al-Mahmoud from HMC’s dermatology department, who Dr. Khaled Machaca, associate dean for research at WCM-Q, said: other disciplines that frequently work together in care teams. Students gave oral presentations of projects that explored research enrolled the volunteers and patients that participated in this study. “This research is a great example of the fruitful collaboration between areas such as Alzheimer’s disease, respiratory problems related to researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar and our partners at Dr. Nayef Mazloum, assistant research professor at WCM-Q, welcomed Qatar’s dusty environment, adverse drug reactions and the inherited Dr. Noha AbdelRahman Yousri, postdoctoral associate in physiology Hamad Medical Corporation. Working together we have been able the students to the event. He said: “We are delighted to see so much blood disorder thalassemia. They then presented a total of 19 posters and biophysics at WCM-Q, led the analysis of the project. She said: to broaden our knowledge of type-2 diabetes and the way in which enthusiasm for both research and inter-professional education among and spent time discussing the findings of their research projects with “Mapping the metabolites specific to type-2 diabetes onto the the disease progresses, which could eventually prove to be extremely students from each of these esteemed colleges.