The Centre for Arab Genomic Studies (CAGS) launched its monthly webinar series yesterday, with the first webinar in this series focussed on the Genomics of Infectious Diseases. The webinar was attended by more than 400 participants from all over the world. The series features distinguished doctors and researchers in the field of genetics who shared their most recent studies with the participants, All participants received one CME credit accredited by the United Arab Emirates University.

 

The webinar was also attended by Their Excellencies  Mirza Al Sayegh and Ahmed Al Hashemi, Members of the Board of Trustees of the Sheikh Hamdan Award for Medical Sciences (SHAMS), His Excellency Abdullah bin Souqat, Executive Director of the Award, and Dr. Mahmoud Taleb Al Ali, Director of CAGS.

 

His Excellency Mirza Al Sayegh conveyed the greetings of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan to all the speakers and attendees of the event. He also expressed his appreciation to His Highness for his generous support and encouragement to medical research, not just regionally, but also internationally.

 

“This is the first webinar of the series that will cover diverse topics around human genetics and genomics. With the organization of this webinar, CAGS and SHAMS continue the tradition of working towards raising awareness and sharing knowledge about the field of human genetics. These programs are made possible only due to the continuous support of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance, and Patron of the Sheikh Hamdan Award”,  he said.

 

 

For his part, Dr. Mahmoud Taleb Al Ali expressed his happiness with the success of the webinar, and also extended his sincere appreciation and gratitude to His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum for his patronage of all the Centre's activities.

 

This webinar hosted talks by Dr. Ahmad Abou Tayoun, Director of the Genetics Laboratory at Al Jalila Children's Hospital, and Dr. Youssef Idaghdour, Assistant Professor of Biology at NYU Abu Dhabi.

 

Dr. Abou Tayoun briefly reviewed the genetic factors of the Covid-19 pandemic and explained how mutations in the SARS-Cov-2 virus can be used to track the spatial and temporal spread of the disease.

 

Dr. Idaghdour also talked about how modern genomic tools can help understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the host's response to infection.

 

It is worth mentioning that the CAGS Webinar series continues with a webinar on Population Genetics on the 24th of March. The webinar will feature talks on the analysis of genomic data to understand ancient population migrations, especially in the Middle East and North Africa. For registration: pahgc.com/2021webinars