Dubai Harvard Foundation for Medical Research (DHFMR) in collaboration with Dubai Healthcare City, a member of Tatweer, and Dubai Press Club, selected three journalists who traveled this summer to Boston for a weeklong fellowship program offered by DHFMR. The program, held at Harvard Medical School (HMS) from May 14th to 18th, was conducted in association with the HMS Office of Public Affairs and was designed to give the journalists the opportunity to increase the depth and breadth of their reporting on health care, medical innovation, and scientific research.

The three winners, Nadeya Ibrahaim (Al Bayan), Abrar Mikkawi (Gulf Today), and Alia Al Theeb (Gulf News), were chosen as the candidates who demonstrated strong writing skills, strong experience and a high interest in healthcare and medical science.

Don Gibbons, Associate Dean of Public Affairs at HMS, lead the five-day program. Each day was devoted to a specific area of science writing and reporting: basic research and discovery; clinical research and clinical trials; announcing medical innovation; health care policy, access, quality, standards, and licensure; and specialized and continuing medical innovation. Daily activities included interviews with HMS faculty, writing workshops, and visits to local media outlets and HMS-affiliated laboratories and hospitals.

The Science Writers Fellowship Program is part of the Foundation’s mission to help drive a resurgence in scientific inquiry and discovery in the Middle East, and lead to innovations that will address the region’s most pressing health problems. The program will be held annually, in the spring, and the invitation for applications will be announced a few months prior to that.