Sidra Medicine launches Annual Cudos Congress

Sidra Medicine officially launched the third Annual Congress of Current Understanding in Diabetes, Obesity, and Related Syndromes (Cudos) yesterday at the Qatar National Convention Centre. This year’s event focuses on paediatric precision medicine, genomics and clinical research, as well as the care and treatment of children and young people with diabetes, obesity, and related syndromes. During the two-day congress, Sidra Medicine will highlight the latest treatments methods and their recently founded management procedures.The opening event featured keynote speeches by Jassim Rashid al-Buenain, secretary-general of the Qatar Olympic Committee; Dr Elias Zerhouni, president of Global Research & Development at Sanofi and member of the board of governors at Sidra Medicine; and Dr Abdulwahab Almusleh, adviser consultant to the Minister of Public Health and chair of the World Cup 2022 Healthcare Programme.Guests and delegates were welcomed with a special a musical feature by the “Maias Alyamani with Maqam ensemble” members of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, followed by a traditional Ardha by the Qatar Centre for culture and heritageFollowing the opening address, the first session titled “The Early Onset Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes”, highlighted how genetic causes of obesity are recognised and leading the way to personalised approaches to treatment. The second session, titled “Surgical Treatment of Obesity in Youth”, discussed how bariatric surgery in adolescents is finding support for the treatment of early metabolic disease. The third and fourth sessions focused on children’s lifestyle to avoid overweight and obese youth, and the importance of planning for the future to control and minimise the effect of these diseases on the young generation.Dr Ammira-Sarah Akil, Sidra Medicine Principal Investigator and Chairperson of Cudos Congress 2019, said: “This year we have a record number of participants which demonstrates how the Congress is growing in size and value including a large number of local and international speakers, scholars, and practitioners, who will enrich the scientific content with their ideas and thoughts.” Key international speakers at Cudos 2019 include Prof Thomas H Inge from University of Colorado; Prof Peymane Adab from the University of Birmingham; and Prof Sadaf Farooqi from University of Cambridge. Speaking at the conference, Prof Dr Sadaf Farooqi, Cambridge Wellcome Trust Principal Research fellow from the University of Cambridge, whose topic the Causes and Consequences of Childhood-Onset Obesity: Insights from Genetics, said: “It is important to meet colleagues from around the world at conferences like the Cudos Congress in Qatar.”“Qatar is experiencing a rise in childhood obesity, which is becoming much more common globally. While environmental factors have played a major role in the rise of childhood obesity, genes are also an important factor,” Farooqi said, adding, “This is particularly in the case of some children who gain a lot of weight at a young age. This is why it is important for those with severe obesity who are very young to be tested for genetic causes.”With a concentrated schedule of pre-Congress workshops, Cudos 2019 has been accredited as a Group Learning Activity (Category 1) for 46 hours by the Qatar Council for Healthcare Practitioners and also includes Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credits for learning and change.Prof Ziyad Hijazi, co-chair of Sidra Medicine’s Cudos Congress 2019, said: “Our clinicians and researchers will be presenting case studies and research in precision-led programmes in pulmonology, child and adolescent mental health, epilepsy, cancer immuno-genomics and developmental disorders. The Congress is an excellent learning experience for specialists and practitioners.”Cudos 2019 is organised by Sidra Medicine with partners including Qatar National Tourism Council; Qatar Airways, Hamad Medical Corporation, and the Gulf Heart Association. The congress was also supported by Hamad Bin Khalifa University, the Qatar Metabolic Institute, the National Obesity Centre, Qatar University, and Weil Cornell Medicine in Qatar.