The Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical ‎Sciences concluded the activities of the 12th term winner`s webinar series, on the ‎topic of infectious diseases, through its 3rd webinar, which discussed the topic ‎Cancer Immunotherapy – what have we achieved and what have we still to ‎achieve?‎

More than 1100 from 17 countries participated in the webinar. All participants ‎were awarded one CME hour by the UAE University.‎

The webinar featured a talk by Prof. Ian Hector Frazer, the Founding CEO and ‎Director of Research of the Translational Research Institute (TRI) at the Faculty of ‎Medicine, University of Queensland, Australia. Prof. Frazer is the recipient of the ‎Grand Hamdan Award in the 12th term of the Award. The webinar was chaired ‎by Prof. Gulfaraz Khan, Professor of Viral Pathology at the Department of ‎Microbiology & Immunology at the UAEU.‎

During the webinar, Prof. Frazer discussed his research that focuses on using the ‎human immune system to control cancer. He talked about current experiments ‎that help to understand how cancers defend themselves against immune attack ‎and how we can overcome these defenses, enabling us to kill cancer cells.‎

He clarified the scientific basis for immunotherapy methods, whether by using ‎cancer antigen T cells for solid tumors or blood tumors, or by means of immune ‎regulation, as well as active immunotherapy, which helps to develop vaccines ‎targeting a type of cancer causes, as in the human papilloma virus.‎

His Excellency Abdullah bin Souqat, Executive Director of the Hamdan Medical ‎Award, expressed his happiness at the success of the webinar series and the ‎interaction of the attendees with the speakers during the webinar. He also ‎stressed that with the organization of these webinars, the Award aims to support ‎the health sector and scientific research and enhance its ability to communicate ‎with the scientific and academic community and specialists from all over the ‎world.‎

He also praised the scientific value of the webinar and the richness of the ‎discussions that took place during the webinar, which contribute greatly to the ‎exchange of the latest developments in the field of cancer, which ultimately leads ‎to the advancement of the health sector, whether inside or outside the country.‎