More than 300 clinical, academic and research staff from across all Academic Health System (AHS) partner organisations have attended a 16-lecture course on the fundamentals of biomedical research methodologies.
Organised as an AHS initiative at HMC, the course forms an important part of the AHS research strategy, supporting the development of academic health and the growth of biomedical research capability in Qatar.
The programme faculty was led by Professor Dr David P Hajjar, of US-based Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, who was the course
director.
Dr Hajjar is an internationally-recognised leader in the field of vascular biology, and a fellow of the British Royal Society of Medicine and the American Association for the
Advancement of Science.
During the course, participants had opportunity to learn from experts at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar and from the faculty in New York.
“The course is primarily designed for those who have recently completed their doctorate or for people in their first 10 years of research experience. It’s particularly relevant to those who have had no formal exposure to the biomedical sciences in terms of research design, how to analyse a scientific paper, how to get their scientific ideas across to medical students, patients, professors and other audiences, and other aspects of conducting biomedical research,” Dr Hajjar said.
Course topics covered biostatistics in medical research, health information technology, translational informatics, drug development and the role of technology transfer, interdisciplinary community-based scientific research, research ethics, the foundations of clinical research and clinical trials, how to prepare research proposals and presentations, team-building and the role of collaborative science, and fundamental aspects of discovering new research funding sources.
Biomedical research in Qatar aims to address national health priorities in line with the Qatar National Research Strategy.
Qatar’s AHS, which is the first in the Middle East and North Africa region, is a dynamic nationwide network integrating research, education and clinical care to focus on improving patient care and delivering innovative healthcare solutions.
Eight member organisations working collaboratively in the AHS are HMC, WCMC-Q, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Qatar Biomedical Research Institute, College of the North Atlantic-Qatar, Primary Health Care Corporation, Qatar University and University
of Calgary-Qatar.