DOHA: A team led by a researcher from Supreme Council of Health (SCH) was among award finalists of 2014 US-Qatar-MENA Infectious Disease Research Initiative being held in partnership between National Institutes of Health, National Institution of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, CRDF Global, and Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), a member of Qatar Foundation Research and Development (QF R&D).
The initiative was announced during the recent Endemic and Emerging Viral Infectious Diseases of Priority North Africa and the Middle East (Mena) meeting in Doha. By investing in research, QNRF is enhancing a research culture that supports QF on its mission to build Qatar’s innovation and technology capacity, helping the nation develop into a hub of research excellence through QF R&D.
Research projects for the grant competition focused on endemic and emerging viral infectious diseases in Mena, including MERS, hepatitis C and E, influenza and HIV/Aids, among others.
The year-long grant fosters biomedical research collaborations between researchers from Qatar, Mena and the US to unite some of the world’s brightest minds to solve critical issues of direct relevance to Qatar and its surrounding region.
“Research on biomedical health issues is an important part of Qatar National Research Strategy and QNRF has established a partnership through it to support research on viral infectious diseases in Mena,” said Dr Abdul Sattar Al Taie, Executive Director, QNRF.
“The programme will expand regional and international research collaboration in the field and facilitate knowledge and technology transfer between researchers in Qatar and their peers throughout the world.”
The SCH team, led by Dr Mohammed Al Hajri, will study Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection in humans and camels. The project is a collaboration between SCH and University of Gezira, Sudan. Other winning teams include researchers from Iran, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and the US. Project titles and institution affiliations of all award finalists can be found on CRDF Global website www.crdfglobal.org The Peninsula
