QBRI and QCRI co-sponsor Symposium on Translational Systems Biology and Bioinformatics

Two scientific research institutes within Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development—Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI) and Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI)—are bringing together leading scientists in the biomedical and computing fields for a one-day symposium about the emerging fields of translational systems biology and bioinformatics.

The event will be held June 25, beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the Qatar National Convention Centre (pictured).

“The ‘Translational Systems Biology and Bioinformatics Symposium’ represents the first time in Qatar that international bioinformaticians and scientists who use bioinformatics platforms in Qatar will come together to discuss the latest developments in the field,” said Dr. Abdelali Haoudi, Vice President of Research and Acting Executive Director of QBRI. “The goal of the symposium is to create a bioinformatics consortium in Qatar that would be used as a platform for interested scientists to establish future collaborative research projects.”

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“Computing is playing an increasingly important role in biomedical research,” adds Dr. Ahmed Elmagarmid, Executive Director of QCRI. “This symposium will help establish how the State of Qatar can best marshal its technical resources and human capacity to advance biomedical research in Qatar.”

The symposium has attracted top international and local experts in the fields of translational systems biology and bioinformatics. For example, one of the keynote speakers will be Eric Lander, a Professor of Biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Dr. Lander is co-chair of U.S. President Barack Obama‘s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Joining Dr. Lander as a keynote speaker is Professor Jeremy K. Nicholson, Chair in Biological Chemistry and Head of Department of Surgery & Cancer at Imperial College London. Dr. David Gifford of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, CSAIL; Dr. Prasanna Kolatkar, Genome Institute of Singapore; and Dr. Amos Bairoch of Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics also will speak. Local scientists from QBRI, QCRI, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, Texas A&M – Qatar, Qatar University, Hamad Medical Corporation, and Anti Doping Lab Qatar will also give presentations.