The Medical Research Centre (MRC) at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has launched an innovative online portal for researchers in Qatar.

ABHATH - which means research - is an online research submission system that went live at HMC on July 17, ushering in a more integrated era for researchers in Qatar.

“ABHATH is available to all researchers within and outside HMC,” said Prof Ibrahim al-Janahi, executive director of research at HMC. “It will enable researchers to self-manage their work with an easy and fast self-service platform.”

“The MRC focuses on excellence in healthcare through research and serves as the focal point for all research activities, including the management of all externally funded research. Developing ABHATH enables researchers to have an integrated and simplified approach to their work.”

“The MRC was created in 1998 with the explicit goal of promoting good quality research. From its humble origins, it has grown into a world class facility supporting research that has roots in Qatar, but whose branches reach out to research and educational institutions across the globe. ABHATH is a natural progression of our mission,” added Prof al-Janahi.

He said the platform was developed with researchers and their needs in mind, adding that it is efficient because of the lack of actual paperwork.

“It is an enterprise-wide collaborative research management application environment for researchers, reviewers, and finance staff for study submissions, i-reviews, budgeting, approvals and monitoring throughout the pre-award and post-award life cycle,” he said.

“It simplifies processes and also connects researchers.”

Researchers now have a single, focus point for research submission and prior to the go-live, HMC clinicians and support staff were trained in the use of the new system.

ABHATH brings the Qatar research community in line with others around the globe enabling researchers to track and monitor their submissions from proposal preparation and submission to reporting about ongoing projects.

“Our clinicians and researchers at HMC and other organisations across Qatar are working on projects that will significantly improve the lives of people living in this country,” Prof al-Janahi said. “This research is important in creating the evidence base that can be used to drive forward changes in clinical practice to improve the outcomes for our patients.”

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