| More than
650 scientists and healthcare professionals
from around the UAE attended the Dubai Harvard
Foundation for Medical Research first annual
symposium, “Today’s Science, Tomorrow’s
Cures,” on March 26, 2006 at the Johara
Ballroom in Dubai’s Madinat Jumeirah
resort. Part of a two-day celebration to observe
the official launch of the Foundation, this
symposium featured some of Harvard’s most
eminent heads of research, who discussed recent
breakthroughs in the management of cancer, heart
and neurodegenerative disease, and highlighted
new inter-institutional and multidisciplinary
work that enables basic science research to
be translated into effective treatments at a
speed never seen before. The symposium was co-chaired
by Dr. Robert Thurer, Executive
Director of the Foundation and Chief Academic
Officer of the Harvard Medical School Dubai
Center (HMSDC) Institute for Postgraduate Education
and Research, and Dr. Ayesha Al-Mutawa
MBBS/MD, MPH, Director of Central Department
of Health Education at the UAE Ministry of Health.
Dr. Nancy Andrews, Dean for
Basic Sciences and Graduate Studies at Harvard
Medical School described the breadth of research
that is published in a typical month at the
Medical School. Dr. Peter Howley,
head of Harvard’s Department of Pathology,
spoke about recent advances in preventing and
treating cancer. Dr. Howley’s research
into understanding how certain viruses can trigger
some cancers has led to development of a new
anti-viral vaccine to prevent cervical cancer
that was submitted for approval last year. This
work is leading to other new therapies which
may ultimately prevent additional lethal forms
of cancer.
Similarly, the research efforts of Dr.
Mohamed Sayegh, Professor of Transplantation
Medicine at Harvard Medical School, another
of the featured speakers, seeks to capitalize
on the study of the body’s immune system
to improve the success of organ transplantation.
Dr. Sayegh, who directs the Transplant Research
Center, a joint collaboration of Brigham &
Women’s Hospital and Children’s
Hospital, discussed how he and fellow researchers
are studying the role of T cell recognition
in organ rejection, and investigating novel
approaches for increasing transplantation tolerance.
“The ultimate goal is to make it possible
for patients to be immunologically tolerant
to unlimited numbers of organs, so that their
bodies don’t view the organs as foreign,”
Dr. Sayegh told the symposium’s audience.
One of the symposium’s most notable attendees
was Dr. Eugene Braunwald, Hersey
Professor of Theory and Practice of Physic at
Harvard Medical School, the cardiologist who
revolutionized the field of cardiology three
decades ago with his discovery that atherosclerosis,
the cause of heart attacks, was a progressive
disease. The aggressiveness with which doctors
today monitor their patients’ blood pressure
and cholesterol levels can be traced to Dr.
Braunwald’s work. At the symposium, Dr.
Braunwald traced the advances in knowledge and
practice in cardiology, and drew attention to
new discoveries on the horizon. He also emphasized
the importance of supporting scientists as well
as the infrastructure and technology required
for their work. |
