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Students at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) have launched the college’s very first student-led magazine.The Mawj Science Magazine was founded to provide a voice for the student body, foster a spirit of enquiry and scientific interest among students, and share news of groundbreaking innovation in biomedical science and education, a statement said.The inaugural edition of Mawj, which means 'wave' in Arabic, features dozens of articles written by WCM-Q students on a wide range of topics, including the mental health of medical professionals, paediatric epilepsy, how technological advances are redefining medical education, the link between gut-brain health and autism, student research projects investigating the effectiveness of traditional remedies, and accounts of student contributions to medical conferences, among other stories. The online magazine also features articles by WCM-Q faculty.Second-year medical student Ubaida al-Aani is the founder and editor-in-chief of Mawj. Student contributors Sama Ayoub, Noor Numan, Amani Benamor, Batoul Arabi, Sama al-Saffar, and Nisarga Natesha Kumuda penned articles for the launch edition.Faculty member Christine Gaskell, senior teaching specialist in pre-medical education and a PhD student, contributed an article on her research, which explores the biological nexus between obesity and cancer through lifestyle and microbiome pathways.Dr Javaid Sheikh, dean of WCM-Q, hoped that Mawj will be a great success and provide an extremely valuable platform for collaboration among the thriving community of student researchers, supporting their ambitions to pursue excellence in medicine by continuously advancing the boundaries of research in clinical care, biomedical research and medical education. Mawj Science Magazine can be read at https://mawjmagazine.org/ 

Experts and futurists in medical education and artificial intelligence (AI) from around the world gathered in Doha for a conference organised by Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q), which explored how technological breakthroughs are revolutionising healthcare and the way medicine is taught.The 2nd Medical Education Technology Conference brought together thought leaders in medical education, technology and the humanities from institutions in Qatar, the US, the UK and the Netherlands to explore the impact of new advances in AI, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) on healthcare and education.The conference, titled “The Power of Connection: Leveraging Technology for Humanistic Medical Education”, addressed the need to integrate study of the humanities with utilisation of advanced technologies to ensure medical education remains human-centered, ethical and compassionate.The conference, co-directed by professor of clinical medicine and vice-dean for academic and curricular affairs Dr Thurayya Arayssi and Dr Anna Halama, the assistant professor of research in physiology and biophysics, also discussed the opportunities and challenges presented by advances in technology.“New technologies, particularly AI and immersive learning, offer us incredibly powerful teaching tools that have the potential to make medical education radically more effective,” Dr Arayssi said. “However, it is incumbent upon us to ensure that these disruptive technologies are deployed in ways which enable medical education programmes to continue to cultivate empathy, compassion and creativity in future physicians.”The conference featured a series of presentations by expert speakers, Q&A panel discussions, and multiple opportunities for attendees to gain hands-on interactive experiences with technologies such as immersive content creation and VR simulations.Presentations discussed the impact of AI on the cognitive development of students and physicians, the emotional and psychological effects of immersive technologies used for medical simulation-based teaching, and the potential benefits of “gamification” teaching methods.The expert speakers at the conference were drawn from elite international medical and educational institutions, including Weill Cornell Medicine in New York; Cornell University in Ithaca, New York; the University of Cambridge, UK; Kenyon College, Ohio; UCI School of Medicine, California; Southern Illinois University School of Medicine; Amsterdam University Medical Centre; and Princeton University, New Jersey.The event drew participants from all over the world, with healthcare professionals, educators and students in attendance from Qatar, the wider Mena (Middle East and North Africa) region, the US, Europe, India and elsewhere.“This excellent event underlined that the judicious integration of AI and technological advances into medical education has the potential to enhance the acquisition of skills, knowledge and professionalism, which can all help improve patient care,” said WCM-Q dean Dr Javaid Sheikh. “At WCM-Q, we believe in embracing innovation to improve healthcare education, while also working hard to maintain the humanistic values of compassion, care, and empathy that form the core principles of responsible physicianship.”

Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar’s 3rd Qatar Proteomics Conference brought together world-renowned academic scientists, researchers and scholars for a dynamic exchange of the latest findings, technologies and innovations in proteomics and bioinformatics.This year’s conference featured engaging sessions, focused on groundbreaking technologies and the critical health challenges of our time, including diabetes, obesity, cancer, infectious diseases, and more.Proteomics is the comprehensive study of proteins, focusing on their structure, function, and interactions within an organism. Key topics included mass spectrometry-based technologies, affinity-based platforms, and their applications to investigation of complex health conditions. Additional sessions explored the transformative role of proteomics in population health, showcased insights from the Human Proteome Organisation and highlighted regional developments shaping the field of proteomics in the Gulf region.Leading national, regional and international scientists appeared as expert speakers at the conference, sharing their latest findings and experiences in proteomics and highlighting new developments in the field. The conference was co-ordinated by WCM-Q’s Dr Frank Schmidt, director of the proteomics core and associate professor of biochemistry and biophysics; and Dr Karsten Suhre, professor of physiology and biophysics, assistant dean for intercampus research partnerships, and director of the bioinformatics core, along with members of their team, including instrumentation supervisor Dr Sunkyu Choi, and laboratory supervisor Muna al-Noubi. Dr Schmidt and Dr Suhre were both among the expert speakers at the conference, as was Dr Khaled Machaca, WCM-Q professor of systems & computational biomedicine and vice dean for research, innovation and commercialisation.Dr Schmidt said: “We were very pleased to welcome so many world-class proteomics researchers to Qatar to share their expertise, discuss the latest developments in the field, and explore future collaborative projects. The potential for combining proteomics with other -omics technologies to increase our understanding of complex diseases is vast, and this can pave the way for improved diagnostic techniques and more effective treatment strategies.”The conference also featured poster presentations and networking opportunities, creating a collaborative environment designed to bridge disciplines and accelerate discovery. The Qatar Proteomics Conference has become a landmark regional event at the forefront of global proteomics and cross-omics research, fostering collaboration, innovation and impactful scientific exchange.Dr Suhre said: “We are very happy that the conference has helped to build upon Qatar’s leading role in proteomics research, drawing attention to the country’s growing position as a regional and global hub for very high-quality science in this rapidly developing field. Bringing world-class experts in proteomics together here in Qatar to share their experiences is a very effective way to foster collaboration and drive advances in discovery.”

The annual Healing Hands essay competition of Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) has recognised four Qatari high school students for their outstanding 800-word essays on the social consequences of obesity.The winners were Almayasa Waleed Alkhal (Qatar Academy High School), Shamma Mubarak al-Nuaimi (Gulf English School), Fatima Mohammed A M al-Rashid (American School of Doha), and Amna Khalid al-Hajri (Swiss International School in Qatar).The programme is designed to inspire young nationals to pursue careers in medicine and biomedical science. Many previous winners of the Healing Hands contest have gone on to join WCM-Q as students.Each of the four winners received the WCM-Q Doctors of the Future Scholarship, which offers an opportunity to spend a week gaining hands-on research experience in one of the college’s state-of-the-art core laboratories. Two of the winners completed their placements at the Proteomics Lab under the supervision of Prof. Dr Frank Schmidt, professor of biochemistry and director of the proteomics core at WCM-Q.An awards ceremony was recently held at WCM-Q, where each of the four winners was presented with a certificate and a prize. A further eight students received honourable mention certificates in recognition of the high quality of their essays, and 13 students received participation certificates.The essays of the four winners and those who received honourable mentions were noted for the originality of their ideas, their command of written English, the soundness of their supporting arguments, and the coherent structure of their essays. The judges also acknowledged the high level of the participants’ essays, noting the generally high standard of all of the entries this year.Noha Saleh, director of premedical administration, student outreach and educational development, said: “We are confident that this experience will inspire these students to consider a future in medicine."Dr Rachid Bendriss, professor of English as a second language, assistant professor of education in medicine, and associate dean for foundation, student outreach and educational development programmes, said: “We were extremely impressed by this year’s essays, which included such a sophisticated level of innovative and thought-provoking arguments and ideas."

The new intake of medical students at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) have marked the beginning of their training by donning the white coat of the physician for the first time at a special ceremony.Each of the new medical students received their white coat and their first stethoscope at the Opening Exercises ceremony, a symbolic event that marks the point when students begin the four-year medical curriculum that will eventually lead to them graduating as doctors. This year there are 57 students enrolled on the first year of the medical curriculum.Of the 57 first-year students, 26 are men and 31 are women. Nineteen of the cohort are Qatari nationals. If successful in their studies, each student will be awarded the Cornell University MD degree.Dean of WCM-Q Dr. Javaid Sheikh said: "Pulling on the white coat of the physician for the first time is an important milestone in the career of any doctor, marking the point at which they take their first steps into a profession that demands technical excellence, compassion, and dedication. All of us at WCM-Q have great confidence the members of this cohort will excel and go on to become the next generation of leaders in medical science and innovation, driving our profession forwards into a bright future of enhanced patient care."The keynote address at the event was given by WCM-Q alumna Dr. Noor Al Khori, now senior attending physician at Sidra Medicine. Dr. Al Khori said: "As you feel the fabric slip onto your shoulders today, feel its magic. Feel the weight of the trust that is placed in you. Feel the weight of history. But also, feel the excitement of the adventures to come. Your white coat is a flag - a flag of humanity, of compassion, and of unwavering principle. It is a banner you raise for every patient, in every circumstance, declaring that here, in your care, dignity and kindness will prevail."

Four students from Weill Cornell Medicine–Qatar (WCM-Q) are named as joint first co-authors on a perspective paper proposing microbiome-based solutions to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR).They were guided by their supervisor, Dr Ghizlane Bendriss, assistant professor of biology at WCM-Q, who is the lead author of the paper. The paper has been published in Frontiers in Microbiomes, a leading scientific journal.Students Ali al-Kuwari, Hamad al-Karbi, Abdulla al-Khuzaei and Dounia Baroudi conducted the study in response to an announcement at the 7th edition of the World Innovation Summit for Health, held in November 2024, which emphasised that tackling AMR was a national priority.The perspective paper discusses several strategies to address the loss of diversity caused by antibiotics, including diet, probiotics, fecal transplants (FMT), and the fermentation of animal and plant products.Preliminary findings from an experiment with camel milk fermentation suggest that fermentation increases microbial diversity, enhances microbiome resilience, and potentially reduces resistance to common antibiotics like tetracycline, streptomycin, penicillin, and chloramphenicol.The increase of diversity allows the microbiome to naturally resist pathogens without additional antibiotic use.Dr Bendriss said: “Over the past four decades, antibiotic innovation and approvals have sharply declined, with annual FDA approvals dropping from about three in the 1980s to barely one today, the share of new antibiotics falling from 20% to 6% of drug approvals, and almost no truly new classes emerging since the mid-20th century.To effectively address AMR, we really need to completely shift our strategy. Microbes already possess a natural ability to fight one another by competing for nutrients and by producing antimicrobial metabolites.Therefore, I believe that microbiome-based solutions such as probiotics or FMT can offer the most sustainable alternative to traditional pharmaceutical interventions.”Additionally, the paper discusses a mechanistic model to underscore the importance of maintaining microbial balance as an effective strategy for mitigating AMR and promoting long-term health.Further research is, however, still needed to better understand the mechanisms behind these changes and their implications for public health.Student al-Kuwari said: “This project deepened my understanding of the microbial world and introduced me to the boundless potential of microbiome-based approaches in tackling real-world health challenges.With antimicrobial resistance becoming an increasingly urgent global concern, contributing to research that explores innovative, targeted solutions has been both timely and meaningful.”Fellow student Baroudi said: “Through this research, I realised that fighting harmful bacteria isn’t just about using more antibiotics; sometimes, it’s about finding better ways to restore and encourage a healthy balance of microbes.This research focuses on identifying sustainable approaches, like fermentation and restoring microbial balance, as innovative ways to nurture microbial ecosystems and offer new hope against the growing problem of antibiotic resistance.”