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The Qatar Metabolic Institute (QMI) at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) has officially launched Cycle II of the Certificate in Obesity Management and Bariatric Care.The programme enhances healthcare workforce expertise and reinforces Qatar’s system-wide response to one of the nation’s most pressing health challenges - obesity.Cycle II deepens workforce capacity and multidisciplinary care under HMC’s leadership through QMI, in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) and the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC).Dr Dabia al-Mohanadi, director of the QMI and division chief of Endocrinology at HMC, stated: “Obesity is a complex and chronic disease that requires integrated solutions. This highlights the need for a coordinated national approach that extends beyond secondary and tertiary centres alone.“By embedding prevention and management into primary care and strengthening collaboration across all levels of care, we are building an integrated model that ensures patients have earlier access to interventions and continuity of support.”QMI, as a key arm of the National Diabetes Committee, is at the forefront of delivering Qatar’s National Health Strategy 2024-2030 Action Plan on Obesity, Diabetes and Modifiable Risk Factors for ASCVD. Cycle II of the Certificate in Obesity Management and Bariatric Care is a flagship project of this Action Plan, accelerating progress in building a skilled workforce.Dr Turki al-Ahbabi, head of Bariatric Medicine at the QMI, HMC, and deputy chair of the Scientific and Planning Committee, said: “We are redesigning care pathways, optimising referrals, and introducing a monitoring framework that tracks outcomes, referral trends, and patient and physician feedback.“Alongside this, we are strengthening the continuum of care—from lifestyle interventions to bariatric surgery—so patients receive the right treatment at the right time. Our goal is to improve access, reduce delays, and deliver more efficient, patient-centred care.”Dr Mohamed el-Sherif, consultant in Endocrinology and Obesity Medicine at the QMI, HMC, and chair of the Scientific and Planning Committee, said: “Cycle II has been designed to accommodate healthcare professionals from HMC, PHCC, and private sector partners, ensuring a broad and multidisciplinary reach.“Over seven months, participants will complete a CPD-accredited curriculum worth 42 Category 1 and 2, Category 3 credit hours, combining workshops at Al Sadd Health Centre, online modules accredited by the World Obesity Federation, and supervised clinical rotations at QMI’s Centres of Excellence.”The curriculum is delivered by more than 50 expert faculty across endocrinology, obesity and bariatric medicine, bariatric surgery, nutrition, and dietetics - equipping participants with practical skills they can apply directly in patient care. The programme is supported through educational grants from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly and will conclude with a graduation ceremony in May 2026.

In the modern, interlinked ecosystem, online footprints significantly influence career paths and organizational fortunes. Online reputation management has grown from a niche service to a core business activity. This growth has spawned a new generation of specialist crisis management companies, with ReputationUP emerging as a shining example of holistic digital reputation defense and restoration.The Evolution of Digital Risk ManagementThe internet era has transformed the ways reputations are established, sustained, and impacted. Conventional public relations strategies, which were previously sufficient to deal with corporate image management, are now not effective enough to counter the sophisticated issues of online defamation, viral lies, and organized digital assault. The advent of search engine defamation, compliance blacklist manipulation, and personalized disinformation campaigns has generated an increasing demand for professional intervention services.ReputationUP has systematized this challenge with its own certified proprietary framework that deals with the four pillars of contemporary online reputation management: cleaning, monitoring, protection, and improvement. This methodological framework is a significant break from the traditional crisis management practices of the past, providing clients with a step-by-step guide to digital reputation restoration and long-term safeguarding.Guided by CEO EMEA Andrea Baggio and CEO America Juan Ricardo Palacio, the company has forged what industry-watchers acknowledge as an overarching vision of digital crisis management. With decades of collective experience in online reputation management, crisis mitigation, and digital privacy, ReputationUP has become a go-to solution for governments, Fortune 500 corporations, and prominent individuals on five continents.Dealing with Modern Online ThreatsThe range of online threats to contemporary organizations and individuals has grown significantly. Business leaders are targeted by synchronized attacks intended to counterfeit search results and harm professional reputation. Political leaders are confronted by complex disinformation campaigns capable of shifting public opinion in a matter of hours. Also, financial institutions deal with illegitimate compliance blacklists that have the potential to initiate banking prohibitions and reputational loss.ReputationUP's response to these threats demonstrates an appreciation for the way digital environments function. The company's RepUP Monitoring Tool, a proprietary solution, detects reputational attacks in real time, and the RepUP Guardian Tool examines and identifies malicious accounts, categorizes sources of disinformation, and triggers takedown processes. This technological backbone makes it possible to respond to threats as they emerge, rather than after they have inflicted long-term harm.The group's efforts on behalf of extorsion victims illustrate the organization's dedication to helping those who are experiencing extremely personal digital emergencies. Through its melding of technical proficiency and compassionate crisis counseling, ReputationUP has assisted thousands of people in reasserting control over their digital lives and professional futures.Regional Expertise and Global ReachThe global operations of ReputationUP demonstrate the varying nature of online threats in different regions and regulatory frameworks. In the United States, the operation is focused on defense against fake news, defamatory information, and viral social media onslaughts. While the Middle East focuses on defense against online defamation and financial reputation loss due to false compliance databases.Within Latin America, the company offers full online reputation cleaning services with specialized victim care for sextortion. Lastly, European operations specialize in addressing search engine defamation and client removal from problematic compliance blacklists. Expansion into African markets serves to meet the specific challenge of political reputation management and interference in democratic processes.This geographical specialization, allied to multilingualism in English, Spanish, and Italian, allows ReputationUP to deliver culturally appropriate and legally sound solutions in varied markets. The company's success globally has been helped by its capacity to tailor its core methodology to local regulatory needs and cultural sensitivities. The Technology-Driven ApproachReputationUP's technological expertise sets it apart from conventional crisis management companies. The company's in-house monitoring systems offer round-the-clock tracking of online channels, facilitating early identification of threats. Sophisticated analytics capabilities enable the detection of orchestrated attacks and the origin of the malicious content.The content removal capabilities of the organization go beyond mere takedown notices. With its advanced legal and technical strategies, ReputationUP can tackle sophisticated cases with multiple jurisdictions and obstinate platforms. Content removal from Google search results and dealing with compliance database entries are specialized skills that very few organizations have.Crisis communication strategy is another key element of ReputationUP's service portfolio. The company's crisis management procedures guarantee clients retain ownership of their message throughout times of digital crisis, safeguarding both short-term reputation and long-term brand reputation.Setting Industry StandardsReputationUP's impact reaches from client-by-client service to setting wider industry standards. The company's executives are frequent contributors of expert opinion to the world's leading media and are speakers at international conferences on digital reputation and crisis management. This thought leadership has assisted in defining best practices in digital crisis resolution and reputation defense.The company's dedication to ethical practices and client privacy has earned trust in industries where reputation management is critical. Banks, healthcare organizations, and government institutions trust ReputationUP's confidentiality and skill to manage delicate reputation issues without organizational integrity being undermined.The company's high success rate in intricate reputation recovery situations has drawn praise from independent experts and sector watchers. This record of achievement across a range of markets and types of threats illustrates the success of ReputationUP's methodical strategy to online crisis management.Online reputation management has become a professional specialty unto itself, demanding expert knowledge, proprietary technology, and worldwide operating capabilities. ReputationUP's holistic strategy to the challenge has set new benchmarks for what individuals and organizations may anticipate from professional reputation protection services.As online threats persist in developing, the company's dedication to technical innovation and best practices makes it a significant authority in online reputation management and crisis mitigation.

The Qatar Chamber has concluded a training program titled 'CSR Project Management Professional', with the participation of trainees from Qatar and several Arab countries. Organised in cooperation with the Regional Consulting Network, a member of the Regional CSR Network, the four-day program focused on enhancing participants' skills in managing CSR projects, drawing on the latest methodologies endorsed by the Project Management Institute (PMI). Held in Arabic for the first time in the Arab region, the program was delivered by Dr Ali Al Ibrahim, a prominent CSR expert, who highlighted global best practices and effective approaches for implementing community projects that generate sustainable impact for organisations and society. For her part, Head of the Training Department at Qatar Chamber, Fatima Al Kuwari, said the program reflects the Chamber's commitment to developing national and Arab human capital and supporting the adoption of international best practices in CSR. She also noted that the specialised programs organised by the Chamber contribute to developing qualified human capital capable of supporting sustainable development and advancing community initiatives in Qatar and across the region.

The first cohort from the venture studio - backed by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Qatar Development Bank (QDB) and Utopia Capital Management - is expected before the end of this year, according to a top official of QDB."We look forward to welcoming the first cohort from Qatar before the end of this year," QDB chief executive officer Abdulrahman bin Hesham al-Sowaidi told the seventh edition of Investment Forum 2025, organised by QDB in association with Young Entrepreneurs Club.Developing Qatar's venture capital ecosystem, in partnership with a fund-of-fund programme launched by QIA, the QDB had collaborated with Utopia Capital Management to establish the first venture studio of Qatar, operated by A-typical Ventures.Unveiled at the Web Summit 2025, the venture studio is actively seeking the region's entrepreneurs looking to scale innovations and drive economic diversification across sectors such as fintech, healthtech, e-commerce, logistics and mobility, and climatetech.The studio will act as a magnet for entrepreneurs and investors across the region, while nurturing Qataris' startup with skills and capital, al-Sowaidi said."This long-term partnership is a testament to our commitment to advancing the VC (venture capital) ecosystem through private sector enablement. This partnership is already in action," he said, adding the region is witnessing an increasing maturity in the financial ecosystem that encourages startup investments, even amidst global headwinds.A-typical Ventures will enable pre-seed, seed and pre-series A founders across the GCC (Gulf Co-operation Council), Levant, Pakistan and Turkiye to refine their business models, optimise their go-to-market strategies, and unlock powerful growth opportunities.The QIA's investment marks one of the first deployments of capital from its 'fund-of-funds' programme, which aims to develop a strong start-up and venture capital ecosystem in Qatar and attract leading venture capital funds and entrepreneurs to the region.QDB is co-building the next generation of game-changing ventures as it collaborates with Utopia and the Qatari partners, marking a bold step toward reshaping the startup landscape.By merging strategic investment with hands-on venture-building expertise, QDB aims to empower high-potential startups in Qatar and across the Middle East, helping them scale faster, break into new markets, and drive real economic impact.Mohammed al-Emadi, QDB executive director of Incubation and VC Investment, said the venture studio would be catering to the entire Mena region."Our alignment and agreement with Utopia is that we don't want to have a centre that's only dedicated for single market. We want a Mena venture studio. And the reason is that we want to serve our 2030 vision by building a knowledge-based economy. We believe that we need to draw the talents from Qatar, but we also need to attract talents to the region and to Qatar specifically," he added.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) has organised a specialised seminar on enhancing quality management in the auditing profession.Held at the ministry's premises with the participation of registered auditors, the seminar aimed to bolster their understanding of the latest updates to quality management standards in the auditing profession and to raise awareness of the practical applications of these standards, thereby contributing to enhancing the quality of auditing work and ensuring strict compliance with professional and regulatory requirements, in accordance with best practices.This event was part of MoCI's steadfast efforts to advance this profession, as regulated by Law No 8 of 2020, through backing auditors' capabilities and enhancing their performance to ensure accurate and reliable financial reports.The seminar featured the International Standard on Quality Management (ISQM 1), which aims to enhance the efficiency of audit processes and emphasises the importance of quality management within auditing and assurance firms, whether regarding financial statement audits or assurance and related services, including engagement quality reviews.In addition, the seminar emphasised that it is important for auditing firms to establish integrated quality management systems, pursue a constant optimisation approach, and implement a monitoring mechanism as a key enabler of success, through quality standards impacting the quality of audit services and their role in building client trust and enhancing firms' presence and credibility in the market.The seminar concluded with an interactive panel discussion, during which experts answered the participants' questions, reviewing methods of navigating key challenges they might encounter when applying these standards, thereby fostering the quality of auditing processes and adherence to international standards.