A delegation from Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al- Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences traveled today (Sunday) to France to attend the Human Genome Meeting HGM2010 which will be held in Montpellier from 18th to 21st May with the participation of 700 geneticists.

 

The conference will discuss more than 200 research papers on the latest genetic technologies, human genome diversities and genetic applications in different fields of health care and their ethical perspectives.

 

The delegation members are Dr. Mahmoud Taleb Al-Ali Director of the Centre for Arab Genomic Studies, a division of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences, Dr. Ghazi Tadmouri Assistant Director of the Centre, a representative of Dubai Convention Bureau, Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing in Dubai Government, and a representative of the HGM2011 organizing company. 

 

It is scheduled that closed meetings with members of the Human Genome Organisation Council will be attended by the delegation to discuss the scientific and organizational program for the 15th Human Genome Meeting which will be held in Dubai from 14th to17th March 2011.

 

Dr. Mahmoud Taleb Al-Ali said that the Center for Arab Genomic Studies managed to meet all requirements for hosting this important international conference in Dubai next year thanks to continued encouragement and direct support by H.E. Dr. Hanif Hasan, minister of Health and chairman of the board of trustees of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences.

 

He also added that choosing Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences as the organizer for the conference next year is a good evidence of its pivotal role in supporting conferences and scientific research in general and in supporting human genetic research in particular. 

 

He also notified that the award established the Centre for Arab Genomic Studies in 2003. The Centre plays an essential role in laying down a solid foundation for human genetics research all over the Arab Countries through the establishment of the largest Arab human genetic diseases database which includes details of more than 940 genetic disorders. 

 

Dr. Mahmoud Taleb Al Ali said that the participants of the 15th Human Genome Conference in Dubai is expected to reach to 1500 geneticists. He added that holding such conference in Dubai provides a good opportunity for further cooperation between Arab and foreign Countries through exchanging experiences and discussing latest technologies in the genome field. 

 

It should be noted that such cooperation between Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences and Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) is not the first cooperation of its kind. In 2007, Professor Edison Liu, President of HUGO, attended and lectured during the 2nd Pan Arab Human Genetics Conference which was organized by the award’s Centre for Arab Genomic Studies.

 

The main objectives of the human genome Organisation is to regulate efforts of countries all over the world in mapping human genes by showing their locations, functions and ways they interact with each other, to study the relationship between human genetic diversity and the environmental factors, to study causes of prevalent genetic disorders in particular societies and find means of diagnoses and prevention.

 

Human Genome Organisation is working to develop research techniques in developing countries, which in turn will be reflected on improving the standard of health care in these countries.