Qatar University (QU) has emerged as one of the forefront institutions in scientific research to address the coronavirus pandemic, in partnership with many educational and health institutions in the country and abroad.
It is relying on an advanced research structure, which has been established over the past years in accordance with the visions and strategies that align with the contents of the Qatar National Vision 2030.
These efforts embody Qatar University strategy (2018-2022), which includes scientific research among its main goals. This goal encompasses clear strategic aims, the most important of which is providing support for research, development and creativity in selected research fields that are compatible with national research priorities, community needs and future aspirations at the economic and social levels.
QU has started to enhance its global presence in the field of scientific research since the implementation of its first strategy for the period (2010- 2013). It coordinated plans and efforts to become the fastest growing research institution in the Middle East thanks to its expertise and personnel in various disciplines, in addition to its facilities that caters to local needs and priorities in a number of areas, especially the health field. The inclusion of medical education in the University’s academic program accelerated its efforts in the field of medical research that addresses local challenges.
Although these programs are new, the research witnessed continuous growth in quantity and quality. Thus, the University became an important partner for the health sector in the country and an active member in dealing with health challenges, including the current coronavirus crisis. Professor Mariam Al Ali Al Maadeed, Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, in a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA), said that QU stands side by side with all research and health institutions in the State of Qatar to address the threat of the emerging coronavirus (COVID-19).
She explained that the QU has taken a number of precautionary decisions for the safety of its employees. At the same time it is making efforts to support the research process and researchers in colleges and the research sector to develop methodologies and outputs of scientific research and to promote active participation with all state institutions in order to protect the Qatari community. Al Maadeed stated that the research facilities are making continuous efforts to carry out research projects related to the COVID-19 pandemic, while the Research and Graduate Studies office of the Vice President launched two research grants in this field.
Last April, QU launched an Emergency Response Grant (ERG) aimed at supporting new and early investigations, which form the basis for more advanced research. This grant follows a short timeline to accelerate the launch of projects funded due to the nature of the current situation. QU’s ERG discusses in its first year 2020 the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which is part of an international research effort to deal with the emerging virus and support rapid scientific research initiatives.
The main objectives of the grant were to create research teams dedicated to this type of virus and study it from different perspectives, such as incubation period, stages, shapes, and strains, contributing to promoting awareness and appropriate protection plans, and shedding light on the role of Qatar University in addressing emerging global concerns.
Open researches by faculty and students and researchers from the local community discuss several pathways, the most important of which are basic molecular research, clinical research, social behavioral research, epidemiology, infectious disease, public health, and engineering e-health. In May 2020, QU launched a new grant (CD-ER) to stimulate development and innovation to respond to emergencies.
This grant aims to enable researchers to move their ideas to the next step and demonstrate commercial potential, based on the recent (COVID-19) context and the current high demand for innovative solutions.
The grant to stimulate development and innovation opens a specific version related to the current global crisis to enable the development of prototypes, processes and innovative platforms. The Vice President told QNA that the current circumstances have provided the University with a high research and educational skill and deepened its connection with the issues of the country and society, stressing that the QU is confident that these grants will help attract distinguished research skills.
Along with grants, the University’s academic and research facilities such as the Biomedical Research Center (QUBRC) are witnessing focused research efforts to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, drawing on cumulative experiences in global research to tackle infectious diseases. Coronavirus occupied an important space in the center’s research, before the discovery of COVID-19 pandemic due to the seriousness of the virus, and caused the outbreak of diseases at different stages and years, such as: SARS syndrome in 2003 and MERS in 2012.
For her part, Director of the QUBRC at Qatar University Professor Asma Al-Thani told QNA that the center has a lab that meets Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) laboratories that provide safety factors when dealing with or treating infectious, self or exotic factors transmitted by inhalation and can cause serious illness, including the novel COVID-19. The researchers of the center, in cooperation with researchers from inside and outside the university, are conducting many research and studies on novel viruses, including ‘a detailed analysis of exported COVID-19 cases’ which is carried out in cooperation with the College of Medicine at Qatar University and Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health.
The center has also a study on ‘using digital simulation technology to test the ability of some inhibitors to stop COVID-19 binding to its cellular receptors’. The center has an important research experience on the coronavirus, and perhaps one of the most important studies published by the center in this context is ‘study on the complete structure of the coronavirus spike protein (viral thorn) its pre-bonding form with cellular receptors, published on March 2, 2016.
Dr. Hadi Yassine, from the QUBRC at QU, in cooperation with an international research team, was able to record a scientific breakthrough at the time to confront the coronavirus, by identifying low-resolution structure of coronaviruses spike trimer; a protein that enables the virus to enter host cells.
The study was published in Journal Nature, one of the most prestigious scientific magazines. HKU1-CoV is one of six coronaviruses that infect humans and it falls into the same group like SARS- and MERS-CoV (betacoronaviruses).
In addition to the previous studies, the QUBRC is undertaking a ‘Study of the genetics evolution of seasonal and zoonotic coronavirus that infects humans’, a research being made in collaboration with Hamad bin Khalifa University; and ‘Study the evolution of the coronavirus (MERS) that causes respiratory syndrome in humans and camels in the Middle East’ held by the Biomedical Research Center, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and Ministry of Public Health (MoPH).
The center published a comparative study for the Prevalence of Anti-MERS Coronavirus Antibodies in High- and Low-Risk Groups in Qatar, in cooperation with the MoPH. In turn, the College of Medicine at QU is making double efforts towards fighting the coronavirus in the framework of its role as an academic and research body.
Researchers and experts at the college, in cooperation with local and external agencies, have carried out a number of research projects, including a research project that examines how the virus affects a patient with cancer, with the aim of revealing indicators and signs that will help doctors make the right decision, and choose the appropriate treatment for a cancer patient who is infected with the COVID-19.
A scientific team at the college is also working on a research project focusing on the ELISA serum screening test for the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the development of a possible vaccine. The aim is to accelerate the development of a rapid internal serologic test to detect the COVID-19. The prototype for the test is serum diagnosis based on the ELISA serum screening test method (a test that measures and detects the presence of certain antibodies in the blood).
The science of serology diagnostic testing is part of capacity building at QU and aims to develop a rapid serologic diagnostic test to check for coronavirus infection (COVID-19) when supply chain failures occur.
SOURCE: THEPENINSULAQATAR