Out of the 10 major diseases in the world, three fall under the category of neuroscience diseases, said an expert at the Qatar Clinical Neuroscience Conference in Doha yesterday.
Speaking at the inaugural session, Dr Matthew E Fink, of Weill Cornell Medical College, said that the conference will focus on three major topics - stroke, trauma and brain injuries.
Some of the leading names in neuroscience from around the world are participating in the three-day conference being organised by Qatar Foundation (QF), Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q), and the New York Academy of Sciences (the Academy).
Neuroscience includes illnesses such as depression, schizophrenia and anxiety disorder along with traumatic brain injuries. They form a large percentage of the global disease burden and are a significant economic cost to nations.
Dr Javaid Sheikh, dean, WCMC-Q, said the conference was indicative of Qatar’s growing influence in the academic world. “This conference on clinical neuroscience brings together experts in multiple domains in the field,” he said.
Dr Fink said that stroke which is caused by neuroscience disorders, is a major killer in many of the Asian countries and other parts of the world. “It can also be a leading cause of deaths in Qatar but there are no official statistics in this regard. About 80% of the cases of stroke can be prevented with the present knowledge while trauma can be cured completely.”
Topics of discussion cover clinical approaches to affective disorders, translation of animal model research, advances in neuropsychiatry and pathophysiology and therapeutic insights regarding stroke and traumatic brain injuries. There are also poster sessions and the open format of the meeting will foster dialogue among delegates.
Some of the speakers at the opening session of the conference yesterday.
