Students, researchers and experts from the GCC and Europe had the opportunity to share their ideas and experiences, and identify areas of co-operation at a forum dubbed as “Personalised healthcare to address chronic non-communicable diseases.”
Organised in conjunction with the European Commission (EU) and hosted by Qatar University (QU) Research Office, the forum aims to highlight the benefits and challenges experienced in tackling the issue in the country, the region and beyond.
The “Research and Innovation Summer School” is part of the Science, Technology and Innovation International Co-operation Network between EU and the GCC.      
“The forum provided an invaluable opportunity for researchers, students and community participants to learn from and interact with local and international experts on issues of importance to public health,” QU’s vice-president for Research and Graduate Studies professor Mariam al-Maadeed said.
“This underlines QU’s mission to serve the strategic interests of Qatar and the entire region, and promote a personalised healthcare system for chronic disease prevention and treatment, in line with national aspirations towards fulfilling the goals of the National Health Strategy,” she added.
Speakers from QU, Primary Health Care Corporation, Qatar Biomedical Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine Qatar, Alexander Technological Educational Institution of Thessaloniki, Ecomit Consulting, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), RCSI Medical University of Bahrain, and University of Thessaloniki tackled various topics at the forum.
Some of their presentations included Implementing Personalised Medicine for Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD); Nutri Heal: A nutrition intervention programme for the prevention and treatment of NCDs in Greek municipalities; The need for personalised medicine in Diabetes; and Personalised medicine in cardiovascular disease; among others.
University of Thessaly-Greece research engineer Stavroula Maglavera gave an overview on the collaboration initiatives and Horizon 2020, the EU’s biggest research and innovation funding programme that promotes taking great ideas of discoveries and breakthroughs from the lab to the market.
The forum also featured 10-minute presentations highlighting the research activities of the students who won the Researcher Mobility Grant.
Part of the programme is a site visit to the Genome Symposium at Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC) that provided an opportunity for the summer school researchers to meet and interact with participants from Europe, Japan, and the US on similar research endeavours.
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