NEWS
A Research Team from the Department of Biology Participates in An International Conference on Pharmacology in Qatar A Student at UoB Wins the Award for Best Presentation in the Field of Computational Pharmacy
Sakhir – University of Bahrain
5 November 2023
A student in the Life Sciences Department at the College of Science at the University of Bahrain (UoB) won the best presentation award at an international scientific conference recently organized by University of Doha for Science and Technology in Qatar, in which a research team from the College participated.
The College of Science team included: Associate Professor in the Department of Life Sciences, Dr. Salwa Mutlaq Al-Thawadi, and Assistant Professor in the same department, Dr. Qamar Abbas Solangi, in addition to seven Master’s students in Life Sciences, namely: Shaima Khaled Al-Haram, Noor Abdullah Issa, Zainab Fuad Mashallah, Iman Abdullah Ghuloom, Fida’a Jassim Al-Saffar, Layan Abdulrazzaq Al-Kharboush, and Al-Hassan Al-Mujtaba Hameed.
The student in the Master’s in Biology program at the College, Noor Abdullah Issa, won the award for her project “The Role of Drug Network Science and the Molecular Approach to Graphs in Revealing the Active Ingredients and Mechanisms of Basil in Treating Alzheimer’s Disease”, and the jury consisted of international arbitrators specialized in bioinformatics.
The student expressed how she benefited from this unique experience and thanked UoB and the research team for their support and encouragement, and her project supervisors, Dr. Salwa Al-Thawadi and Dr. Qamar Solangi.
For her part, Dr. Al-Thawadi stated: “The student’s victory is an achievement that enhances the reputation and distinction of the University of Bahrain in the field of training students in the basics of scientific research, especially in drug development, through (silico) experiments, which rely on the use of computers in drug discovery and development.”. In addition, she expressed her great pride in the huge response that the research team’s participation received from the judges and attendees.
She further added that, “The University’s team presented distinguished scientific research on the use of the latest computer technologies in drug delivery systems and held preliminary talks for research cooperation with universities and research centers in Qatar, America, and Thailand.”.
While Dr. Solangi stated that this participation confirms the University’s interest in enhancing the scientific innovation environment, and encouraging researchers to participate in scientific forums, and to communicate and exchange knowledge in vital fields in particular. In addition, he expressed his pride in the methodology used in teaching the Master’s in Biology program, which encourages innovation, education, and comprehensiveness, to formulate a promising, brighter and more prosperous future.
During its participation, UoB’s team learned about modern computer technologies to serve the pharmaceutical sector, including: the study of protein and ligand interactions, developments in internal methods related to drug delivery systems, the pharmacokinetic modeling program used to predict pharmacokinetics in different groups of patients, applied research to treat Cancer, diabetes, infectious diseases and genetic diseases, and exploring the possibility of using artificial intelligence tools to discover chemicals that can be converted into medicines, as well as teaching science, and integrating computational methods into various pharmacy education programs.
