events 2015

Speaker : Professor Said Ismail 

Time :12:00 PM –01:00 PM.

Location :New Research Complex H10 - Biomedical Research Center, Zone 5, Room # D-140, Qatar University.

Topic : 

Cancer is described as the new plague of our modern time. It is one of main killers around the world and the number of affected individuals is on the increase in both developed and developing countries. In addition to their severe side effects, most conventional cancer chemotherapeutics fail to eradicate the disease, and the tumors develop drug resistance and eventually relapse. One exciting new theory that attempts to explain such events states that malignancies actually depend on a small population of stem-like cells for tumor initiation and proliferation, where these cells, which are more resistant to treating drugs, form the driving force for cancer maintenance. These cells were therefore given the name cancer "stem cells" (CSCs). As more evidence supports this theory, better identification and targeting of such cells could have major impacts on the ongoing struggle to develop a new generation of "smart" drugs that can specifically target these cells. Several labs around the world are indeed trying to specifically target these CSCs in an attempt to hit the tumor at its heart by designing "smart" delivery vehicles that circulate through the body and then specifically target the CSCs with its cargo of anti-cancer drugs. Our lab has joined these efforts as we have been developing complex drug delivery systems based on the newly emerging Aptamer Nanotechnology.

Aptamers are short nucleic acids, DNA or RNA that can fold into complex three dimensional shapes and structures, and are able to bind different molecules including proteins with high affinity and specificity. Aptamers are selected by a process called Systematic Evolution of Legands by Exponential Enrichment (SELEX). The SELEX process starts with a massive library of DNA/RNA short oligonucleotides containing up to 1015 different sequences synthesized by combinatorial chemistry.

In this talk we will review a variety of the newly developed smart anticancer drugs as well as present our recent work where we've successfully managed to develop aptamer-based drug delivery systems capable of identifying the CD44, which is one of the main CSC cell surface markers. We will also present our work on other CSC markers including EpCAM and CD133.

We will also shed light on the potential future perspectives of aptamer technology specifically with regards to the combinatorial chemistry involved in the synthesis of Aptamers libraries plus emphasizing the importance of developing sophisticated algorithms to predict the 3D structures of the aptamers as well as in-silico computer screening of aptamer-target interactions.

Speakers : Dr. Hany Marei and Dr. Asma Althani.

Time : 8:30 AM-2:30 PM - Atlanta USA.

Location :New Research Complex H10 - Biomedical Research Center, Zone 5, Room # D-140, Qatar University.

Topic : 

The name of Qatar University, and the Biomedical Research Center (BRC) has been among the stars of World Stem Cell Summit2015 (10-12 December 2015) in Atlanta - USA. Dr. Asma Althani, Director of the Center, and Dr. Hany El-Sayed Marei, Project Manager of BRC have been selected for Honorable Mention for their eminent researches in the field of stem cell-based therapy. The research article of Dr. Marei and Dr. Althani has been selected among 150 research articles from around the globe for valuable contribution to the field of cellular-based therapy for traumatic (Spinal Cord Injuries) and neurodegenerative (Alzheimer's and Parkinson's) diseases.

Speaker : Dr. Wedad Saleem 

Time : 8:30 AM - 2:30 PM.

Location :New Research Complex H10 - Biomedical Research Center, Zone 5, Room # D-140 & Lab#D139, Qatar University.

Topic : 

The flow cytometry facility is one of the main facilities in any research center working in biological field. Flow cytometry is a technique for counting, examining and sorting particles suspended in a stream of fluid. It offers multi-parametric analysis of the physical and/or chemical characteristics of single cells. Our flow cytometry workshop introduced our participants to different aspects as basics of flow cytometry, samples used and different applications of flow cytometry in addition to how to design for your experiment. Furthermore, our workshop explained the importance of fluorochrome choice and different aspects should be known about fluorescence and compensation. The resulting flow cytometric data are sorted according to a standard format; this is followed by gating and data analysis. For the practical part of our workshop we worked on BD FACSDiva software, and introduced participants to how to begin working with flow cytometer and the major practical steps to be known for a flow cytometer user. (For more information see Practical Session).

• Program

• Theoretical Session

• Practical session

Visit Details:

HMC/ Oxford Transplant Surgery Team had visited BRC facility on the 10th of November 2015 and were introduced to BRC state of the art laboratories as well as the ongoing research projects and BRC researches. This visit served the desire and interest of both teams of oxford and BRC in exploring the areas of future cooperation.

Speaker : Dr. Sohaila Al Khodor 

Time :12:00 PM –01:00 PM.

Location :New Research Complex H10 - Biomedical Research Center, Zone 5, Room # D-140, Qatar University.

Topic :

In her presentation, Dr. Al Khodor described the intracellular life cycle of B.cenocepacia, an opportunistic intracellular pathogen, causing devastating infection and pneumonia in patients with cystic fibrosis and chronic granulomatous disease. She showed the mode of interaction of this pathogen with the autophagy pathway in human cells. Using electron and confocal microscopy analyses, she demonstrated that the invading bacteria interact transiently with the endocytic pathway before escaping to the cytosol. This escape triggers the selective autophagy pathway, and the recruitment of ubiquitin, the ubiquitin-binding adaptors p62 and NDP52 and the autophagosome membrane-associated protein LC3B, to the bacterial vicinity. However, despite recruitment of these key autophagy pathway effectors, she showed that B.cenocepacia is able to block autophagosome completion and replicates in the host cytosol. She indicated that an increase in cellular autophagy flux can significantly inhibit B.cenocepacia replication and that lower autophagy flux in macrophages from immunocompromised CGD patients could contribute to increased B.cenocepacia susceptibility, identifying autophagy manipulation as a potential therapeutic approach to reduce bacterial burden in B.cenocepacia infections.

Dr. Al Khodor also described the landscape of the microbiome research using a keyword extraction method from all articles published up to July 2015. Her extensive search of the 1762 abstracts revealed that during the past decade more studies demonstrated the role of the microbiota in health and disease with the gut microbiome being the most described site and inflammatory/ immune response and inflammatory bowel syndrome being the most studied conditions. Dr. Al Khodor also presented her research interests in her current position in SDIRA medical and research center.

Speaker : Dr. Nasser Rizq (About Speaker)

Time :11:00 AM –12:00 PM.

Location :New Research Complex H10 - Biomedical Research Center, Zone 5, Room # D-140, Qatar University.

Topic :

The aim of this presentation/study is to perform a comparative analysis of metabolomic and proteomic datasets of gene expression to identify differentially regulated genes as potential prognostic biomarkers.The study sought to identify biological processes and pathways of proteins that are associated with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) that were differentially up- or down-regulated in comparison to normal controls.Datasets from Luminex profiling, metabolic profiling and proteomic profiling were selected for analysis of gene expression.A subset of 219 differently expressed genes (DEGs) was found in the three studies.The dataset was integrated into Pathway Studio 9 software for development of molecular pathways.Upon entry into the software, only 95 of the DEGs were identifiable and matched within the database

Date :  October-November 2015

Workshop Details :

Based on Dr. Darwish Al-Emadi's recommendation- the vice-president of the office of research- and under the supervision of the Director of the Biomedical Research Center Dr. Asma Al-Thani. The Biomedical Research Center is organizing several workshops in the field of scientific research during the month of October and November in collaboration with Hamza Bin Abdel-Muttalib Independent school, aligning with the Qatar University strategy plan, which aimed to encourage the integration of Qatar University with community to support the social, economic and cultural development.

Dr. Wedad Saleem - Assistant Professor in metabolic diseases- from the Biomedical Research Center is coordinating with Hamza Bin Abdel-Muttalib school to organize these workshops. In the first workshop Dr. Hadi Yassin - Assistant Professor of infectious diseases in the center has presented a lecture title: the Importance of the Biomedical Researches.

The rest of the workshops will be held during the months of October and November by Dr. Hadi Yassin and with the participation of Dr. Mohamed Ezzat - Post-doctoral researcher at the Biomedical research Center.

The implementation of these workshops is indicating of the awareness of Hamza Bin Abdul Muttalib school represented by its director Mr. Khaled Issa Almuhaize of the importance of scientific research skills development of teachers and students in the school, since the scientific research is an essential pillar of knowledge, such events and activities that will enhance the knowledge and cultural ability among our students as real investment for the future of the State of Qatar