Dr Isra Marei of Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) has won the prestigious Paul Dudley White International Scholar Award, which recognises the world’s best cardiovascular science and medicine research.
Dr Marei, a postdoctoral associate in pharmacology, received the award from the American Heart Association (AHA), during the Vascular Discovery: From Genes to Medicine Scientific Sessions 2023 in Boston.
The award is named after one of the AHA’s founders, a champion for heart health who pioneered preventive cardiology.
Since 2017, the award has promoted Dr White’s vision for excellence in cardiovascular and brain health science. It is presented to the primary author of the highest-ranked scientific abstract from every participating country for each AHA scientific meeting.
Dr Marei, whose research focuses on the use of blood progenitor cells for diabetes and cardiovascular applications, is a member of the research team of Dr Christopher Triggle, professor of pharmacology at WCM-Q. She is also working toward engineering 3D vascular grafts for cardiovascular drug screening.
The quality of her research was recognised in 2020 by the L’Oréal-Unesco for Women in Science Middle East Regional Young Talents Programme.
The work recognised by the AHA award is a part of an ongoing early career research project led by Dr Marei.
The work identified a link between the altered transcriptomic profile of blood endothelial progenitors, and the impaired repair and endothelialisation processes in type 2 diabetes.
Dr Marei said: “The findings from our work provided new insights on the effects of type 2 diabetes on the vascular repair mechanisms which are influenced at a transcriptomic level. Blood progenitors emerged as a potential source for tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and cell therapy. Taking the dysfunction of these cells in diabetes, these applications should be tailored to address the dysfunction in these cells and provide more personalised therapeutic options for this specific population of patients”.
Dr Marei’s co-authors include Binitha Thomas, Omar Chidiac, Dr Charbel Abi Khalil and Dr Tanwir Habib at WCM-Q; Dr Mohammad Jameesh, Dr Amin Jayyousi, and Dr Jassim al-Suwaidi at Hamad Medical Corporation; Dr Blerina Ahmetaj-Shala and Prof Jane Mitchell at Imperial College London; and WCM-Q medical students Ahmed El-Naas, Anam Ehtesham, Azwa Dilawar, and Leena Elsheikh Aboidris.
Dr Isra Marei
