Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has hosted the fourth Annual Child Health Research Day at the Medical Education Centre. The day-long conference featured lectures and scientific presentations from international and local healthcare professionals actively engaged in pioneering research in health issues relevant tochildren in Qatar.
Over 334 participants attended the event, including physicians, nurses and other allied healthcare professionals from HMC hospitals and Paediatric Emergency Centres, as well as Sidra Medical and Research Center, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q), Shafallah Medical Genetics Centre, and Qatar University.
“The overall aim of the event is to continue to build child health research capacity in Qatar through collaborative partnerships as well as to support the development of paediatric research within HMC and within Qatar,” said Dr Abdulla al-Kaabi, HMC senior consultant in paediatrics and project director for HMC-SickKids Partnership Project, in the opening remarks at the conference.
The event served as a platform for child health researchers in Qatar to showcase the projects they have engaged in as well as to share their findings on topics pertinent to child health issues in Qatar including, child road traffic injuries, Wilson’s disease and vitamin D deficiency in infants and children.
The event was supported by HMC-SickKids Project and HMC Medical Research Centre and followed from the mentorship SickKids provided through the HMC-SickKids Partnership to the HMC Research Task Force in an effort to build a research culture focused on children’s health within the country.
“Paediatric research is not only vital to children, but also to the adults that they will become, and therefore, reflects in the health of the nation,” said Professor Neena Modi, consultant in neonatal medicine, Chelsea &Westminster Hospital, London, and vice president for science and research of the UK Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
“Doctors around the world have a responsibility to question and to strive to reduce uncertainties in infant and child care, by evaluating new treatments and policies through dedicated research, as children have the right to benefit from research,” Dr Modi said.
Dr Amal Khidir, consultant paediatrician at HMC and assistant professor of paediatrics at WCMC-Q, shared insights into the common challenges that are faced by child healthcare researchers and presented recommendations for adopting a culturally-sensitive approach when taking on such research.
Dr Francesco Marincola, chief research officer of Sidra, shared updates on immunotherapy of cancer; and Dr Haitham El Bashir, senior consultant in developmental paediatrics and Head of Child Development and Rehabilitation section at HMC highlighted research work in the area of childhood disability in Qatar.
A poster exhibition was also held during the event, which included 26 posters displaying research from healthcare institutions across Qatar. Four best posters and six best abstract submissions were selected for awards and recognition during the event.
The event was highly regarded as a success by the attendees and marked another step toward building capacity in child health research in Qatar and HMC’s mandate to sustain an academic health system.