Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences discusses ways of cooperation with National Authority for Scientific Research.
29 June 2010
Last week, Prof. Najib Al Khaja, Secretary General of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences met Dr. Kenneth Wilson, Director of National Authority for Scientific Research at the award headquarter.
The meeting was attended by Dr. Ghazi Tadmoury Assistant Director of the award’s Centre for Arab Genomic Studies and a member of Supreme Committee for Health Research (affiliated to UAE Ministry of Health).
Prof. Najeeb Al Khaja said that the meeting aims at supporting cooperation between Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences and National Authority for Scientific Research, on controlling scientific medical research within UAE.
He added that establishing Higher Committee for Health Research, upon the instructions of UAE minister of health and chairman of the board of trustees of the award H.E. Dr. Hanif Hasan, is considered as an important step towards achieving this goal.
Also, Prof. Najeeb Al Khaja praised the important role played by National Authority for scientific research in supporting scientific, technological and humanitarian research all over UAE.
Through the meeting, the two sides have agreed upon supporting bilateral cooperation through two main aspects. The first of them includes building bridges of cooperation among all institutions of scientific research within UAE, and following up researchers’ papers through exchanging information about their papers’ topics and the budget of each.
The second aspect of cooperation includes exchanging experiences between the two sides concerning the award’s system of supporting scientific research projects.
"Reality of scientific research within UAE should be specified to draw a future plan for required research topics, regarding to the community requirements", Prof. Al Khaja said.
He added that the Award has gained a good experience in the field of supporting scientific research by supporting 65 papers since its establishment in 1999 till now. The award managed to develop a mechanism for receiving nominations, evaluating them accurately and following them up in all stages of implementations for achieving the desired results.
During the meeting, Prof. Najeeb Al Khaja explained various activities of the Award which are implemented through 5 centers i.e. center for Arab Genomic Studies, Award Center, Continuing Medical Education Center, Publishing Center and Supporting Scientific Research and Community Service Center.
He also spoke with Dr. Wilson about Centre for Arab Genomic Studies’ data base as one of the most important achievements of the award, as it includes details about 940 genetic disorders in Arabs.
Dr. Wilson has impressed by the activities of the award and its history during more than a decade, during which the award has obligated to provide all kinds of support to health sectors at all levels locally and internationally.
"I am sure that cooperation between National Authority for Scientific Research and Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences will result in further progress and prosperity for ??scientific research in UAE in the near future", Dr. Wilson said.
