WISH presents research findings on dementia, autism

The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), an initiative of QatarFoundation, has presented its findings from research into dementia andautism at the fifth International Workshop on Food and Brain Health, atSultan Qaboos University (SQU) in Muscat, Oman.The two-day event held under the patronage of Dr Mona Fahad al-Said,assistant vice chancellor for international co-operation at SQU, fromNovember 5-6, brought together delegates from around the world toinvestigate the impact of food and nutrition on brain health.Discussions covered topics from the definition, causes, and treatmentfor neurodegenerative diseases to research findings on dietary practicesand their unique role in health. Sultana Afdhal, acting chief executive officer, WISH, and Dr WalidQoronfleh, director of research and policy development, WISH, met withDr al-Said to outline WISH’s work and discuss areas of potential futurecollaboration between WISH and SQU.Afdhal said, “I’m pleased to have had the opportunity to accompany theWISH research team to SQU, where we were given the chance to join thediscussion on food and brain health and to share our research on autismand dementia, two very important mental health-related topics. Further studies within both can bring great benefit to the population of Qatar, the region, and beyond.”Dr Qoronfleh delivered a keynote address on dementia on the first day ofthe workshop, organised by SQU’s Food Science and Nutrition Department.Dr Qoronfleh highighted the main learnings accumulated from the tworesearch reports produced by WISH to date, namely a 2015 dementia forumreport titled ‘A Call to Action: The Global Response to Dementia throughPolicy Innovation’ and a 2016 meeting report titled ‘Enhancing theResponse to the Burden and Impact of Dementia Through Policy and SocialInnovation in the Eastern Mediterranean Region’.A presentation about WISH’s autism research findings were delivered onthe second day by three members of WISH’s Qatar-based research team,Sanaa Taha Alharahsheh, senior associate of research and policy, andresearch and policy development officers Faras K Almeer and Maha ElAkoum. Their presentation was based on the WISH 2016 report titled‘Autism: A Global Framework for Action’.