Leading scientists to attend diabetes symposium in Doha

Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI), a member of Qatar Foundation Research and Development, will host a symposium on ‘Systems Biology of Diabetes: Towards Precision Medicine’ on 26-27 January at the Qatar National Convention Centre in Doha. 

The symposium will bring together leading scientists from around the world to discuss new developments in the field of systems biology and genomic medicine for the understanding and treatment of diabetes. The goal of the symposium is to identify opportunities for creating a global network for research of Type 2 diabetes. 

“Type 2 diabetes is a serious problem in Qatar, and QBRI is focused on better understanding this disease and finding innovative treatments for it,” said Dr Abdelali Haoudi, Executive Director, QBRI. “The best approach for such research is not to work in isolation, but to collaborate with other researchers from local stakeholders’ institutions and around the world. By assembling this all-star team of systems biology and genomic medicine experts for two days in Doha, we hope to lay the foundation for a global network focused on innovative research for diabetes.” 

Unlike traditional medicine, which offers a one-size-fits-all treatment approach, genomic medicine looks at disease characteristics among genetically similar populations. The ultimate goal of such research is to discover innovative therapies that are targeted at small, genetically related groups, giving rise to the term “precision medicine”. 

“The quality of this symposium’s program is superior to almost all of its kind in the field of diabetes. The only exception is the Keystone Symposia, but that is a 3-day conference,” said Dr Philippe Froguel, Senior Scientific Director of QBRI and one of the organizers of the event. 

Dr Bernard Thorens, Professor at the Centre for Integrative Genomics, Department of Physiology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland, will deliver the keynote address on ‘Mouse genetic, genomic, and physiology to uncover novel pathways controlling islet function’. Dr Thomas Zachariah, Executive Vice President, Qatar Foundation Research and Development; Dr Abdelali Haoudi, Executive Director, QBRI; and Dr Philippe Froguel, Senior Scientific Director, QBRI; will also address the symposium during the opening session. 

Other speakers presenting on the first day include: Dr Chris Newgard and Sarah W Stedman of the Nutrition and Metabolism Center, Duke Institute of Molecular Physiology, Duke University Medical Center, USA; Dr Jorge Ferrer, Imperial College London, UK; Dr Decio Eizirik, Laboratory of Experimental Medicine, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium; Dr Oluf Pederson, University of Copenhagen, Denmark; and Dr Emmanuel Van Obberghen, University of Nice, France. 

The second day of the symposium will feature a workshop called ‘Towards global networks for Type 2 diabetes’. Dr Philippe Froguel of QBRI will present his thoughts on ‘The road towards personalised medicine in Type 2 diabetes’. Other presenters in the workshop include Dr Timothy Spector, Kings College London, UK; Dr Karsten Suhre, Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar; Dr Mark Prentki, Montreal University, Canada; Dr Guy Rutter, Imperial College London, UK; and Dr Mario Falchi, also from Imperial College London. 

The event is open to the public. Anyone wishing to attend should request a reservation via email from qbri-info@qf.org.qa.