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The Iraqi researcher Mootaz Salman has won the “Young Scientist Lectureship Award” for research that involved putting human brain tissue on a microchip and using innovative technology to treat neurodegenerative diseases.
Salman started his academic career at the University of Mosul, where he earned a Bachelor of Pharmacy with Honours, and is now is a senior researcher and lecturer in the department of physiology, anatomy and genetics at the University of Oxford.
He spoke to Al-Fanar Media about his work, which has taken nearly ten years of research, and the experiences that led him to his current post.
The first researcher in Britain to win the award, Salman said the support he received from universities where he had worked in the United States and the United Kingdom had been a key factor.
“I deeply believe that the more a person works, the more fortunate he is,” Salman said.
“From the very beginning, I was aware of the challenges ahead, the double effort I had to make, as an academic from a conflict country, and the responsibility I had to convey a different image of my country and to help humanity provide solutions to brain diseases and stroke, which have risen dramatically.”
Human Brain Tissue on a Microchip
The International Society for Neurochemistry and the and Asian-Pacific Society for Neurochemistry will present Salman with the award in September in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Salman led a research team that used a human brain “microvessel on a chip” to study what happens when drugs cross from the bloodstream into the brain.
The research was part of his ongoing work to understand the cellular physiology of the blood-brain barrier and exploit its mechanisms to improve the effectiveness of therapeutic treatments of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease.
The device the researchers designed for the study allowed them to track the movement of tiny molecular sizes across the blood-brain barrier. Their device is ideal for studies involving biotherapies, as well as being able to employ it in high-resolution imaging methods, such as transmission electron microscopy, Salman said.
Academic Journey
Before moving to the University of Oxford two years ago as an assistant professor and lecturer at Wolfson College, Salman was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital in the United States.
Before that, he earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from Sheffield Hallam University, in the United Kingdom.
During his doctoral studies, he discovered a new pharmacological framework for developing drugs to treat patients with brain tumours resulting from accidents and strokes.
This research focused on water receptors in the brain. Salman described it as a turning point that helped him recognise the molecular mechanics of brain diseases and think of ways to provide therapeutic solutions rather than surgery, which has major risks and complications.
He said the research led him to discover how cells develop brain tumours and the mechanics that cause these tumours and strokes at the molecular level.
A World Health Organization report says that about 75 million people in the world suffer from strokes annually. About five million of them die and another five million suffer permanent disability.
Salman says the incidence of brain disease in the Arab world is rising because of the dietary and living patterns of the majority of the population, the intake of fats and sugars at “unreasonable” rates, the lack of physical activity, and the pressures of daily life.
Difficulty of Research in Arab Countries
After graduating from the University of Mosul, Salman worked as a teaching assistant in the university’s Faculty of Pharmacy for about two years and experienced firsthand the difficulties of research in the Arab world. He said there was no financial support for conducting research, research laboratories were limited, and the teaching and administrative burdens on professors usually led them to abandon research.
Salman said scientific research should be considered “an investment,” not a “random academic luxury.” Such work only flourishes in a suitable environment where there is stability and financial support, he said.
He believes the political unrest Iraq has experienced in recent years has affected teaching in universities and Iraqi researchers’ chances for professional development. He described government support for Iraqi universities as “very limited” and said most research initiatives were “individual and random” and did not amount to regular institutional work.
A Call for Greater Investment in Research
Salman said Arab countries needed to increase investment in scientific research at the national level and benefit from the experience of wealthy Gulf countries that have attracted foreign and Arab professors from major European and American universities to establish research centres where young researchers can train.
He said he had tried to open communication channels between the University of Oxford and Iraqi universities to reach agreements for cooperation and scientific research, which could provide research fellowships for Iraqi researchers at British universities.
This year, the University of Mosul signed a cooperation agreement with Oxford on a project that uses remote sensing and photographic information systems to study antiquities. The work would preserve the cultural heritage of Nineveh Governorate and other Iraqi provinces, and attract Ph.D. students to training courses at British universities.
Salman said: “These efforts give me a high sense of pride and a greater incentive for hard work and research that benefits all humanity. I feel a sense of responsibility and love towards my country, my city and my mother university, which helped me and paved the way for me at the beginning of my academic journey.”
Mootaz Salman, an Iraqi scientist at the University of Oxford, has won the “Young Scientist Lectureship Award” for his use of innovative technology to treat neurological diseases. (Photo: Mootaz Salman).
Stanford University, one of the world’s leading research and teaching institutions, published its annual “World’s Top 2% Scientists” list — featuring the most widely cited scientists in different disciplines — this week.
It included five faculty members from Riyadh’s Imam Mohammad bin Saud Islamic University: Dr. Rafiq Muhammad Choudhry and the late Dr. Hisham El-Dessouky from the department of engineering; Dr. Kamal Abdul Jawad Buradah and Dr. Ahmed Al-Khayyat from the department of science; and Dr. Qaisar Abbas from the department of computer science.
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Highlight:
The ‘World’s Top 2% Scientists’ list includes Dr. Rafiq Muhammad Choudhry and the late Dr. Hisham El-Dessouky from the department of engineering; Dr. Kamal Abdul Jawad Buradah and Dr. Ahmed Al-Khayyat from the department of science; and Dr. Qaisar Abbas from the department of computer science.
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The university’s president, Dr. Ahmed bin Salem Al-Amri, said that the university’s recognition is a sign of the support that education and research receives from the Kingdom’s leaders.
“The leadership gives special attention to scientific research as a key pillar of the university’s success and a developmental and community-based necessity to transform universities into (places) that serve the development of the knowledge economy, by improving scientific research and its quality and outcomes in order to positively impact the economy and society,” he said.
In recent years, the university has dedicated “specialized programs and quality initiatives as part of its strategic plan to achieve the goals of scientific research and innovation,” and to improve the Kingdom’s ranking in the Global Competitiveness Index, thus achieving the goals of Saudi Vision 2030, Al-Amri explained.
source/content: arabnews.com (headline edited)
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Stanford University, one of the world’s leading research and teaching institutions, published its annual “World’s Top 2% Scientists” list. (Reuters/File Photo)
Scientists play one of the most significant roles in our world, most importantly today as we deal with a pandemic that has taken the lives of more than 300,000 people. Throughout history, there have been many accomplished and inspiring Sudanese scientists who have changed our understanding of the world around us with their research, discoveries and tangible impact.
Here are some internationally acclaimed Sudanese scientists in Sudan and across the world that you should know about:
Ismail Abdel Rahim El Gizouli
Image source: Ismail El Gizouli
Ismail Abdel Rahim El Gizouli is an energy and environment specialist. He was member of the bureau of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from 2002 to 2008 and was re-elected for another term from 2008 to 2015. He then acted as interim chairman of the IPCC in 2015. In addition, he was the vice-chair of the Facilitative Branch of the Compliance Committee of the UNFCCC from 2005 to 2007 and was the Chair of the Facilitative Branch and Co-Chair of the Compliance Committee of UNFCCC from 2007 to 2009.
He received a Bachelor of Science in Mathematic and Physics from the University of Khartoum in 1971 and a Master of Science in Operation Research & Statistics from the University of Aston in Birmingham, UK in 1980.
El Gizouli worked as a freelancer and conducted many consultancies for the African Development Bank, World Bank, UNEP, FAO and African Energy Policy Research Network (AFREPRN). In 1998, he joined The Higher Council for Environment and Natural Resources in Sudan as a consultant on all UNDP-Government joint climate change projects.
He has participated in many international, regional and national conferences, meetings and symposiums in industry planning, sustainable development, energy, environment and climate change. In addition, he published many papers and is one of four authors of two energy-related books published by ZED Books England. He also contributed as Review Editor to many IPCC Reports including Safeguarding the Ozone Layer and the Global Climate System, Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (Main Report and Technical Summary), Working Group III contribution to the Fourth Assessment Report (Mitigation of Climate Change) and Fourth Assessment Synthesis Report.
Dr Balgis Osman Elasha
Dr Balgis Osman-Elashais senior scientist at the forefront of global research on climate change. She has been a climate change expert at the Compliance and Safeguards Division at the African Development Bank (AfDB) since 2009. She holds a PhD in Forestry Science, a master’s degree in Environmental Science, and a Bachelor of Science with honour in Forestry and Agricultural Science. She has more than 17 years of experience in the field of climate change with a special focus on vulnerability and adaptation assessment related to African countries and the Middle East, emphasising the human dimension of global environmental changes.
Dr Osman-Elasha has reviewed a number of scientific papers to Elsevier and other highly reputable journals as well as a guest editor to a number of scientific publications. Before joining the African Development Bank, she was a senior researcher at the Higher Council for Environment and Natural Resources (HCENR)-Sudan. Her research focuses on vulnerability and adaptation assessment in drought-prone in Africa.
Dr Osman-Elasha is the winner of the UNEP Champions of the Earth Award for outstanding environmentalists and the winner of Lead Authors-Nobel Peace Prize. She is also a member of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Professor Elfatih Eltahir
Professor Elfatih Eltahir is the Breene M Kerr Professor of Hydrology and Climate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a focus on sustainable development in Africa. Elfatih earned a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from the University of Khartoum, a Master of Science in hydrology from the National University of Ireland, and a Master of Science in meteorology and a Doctor of Science (Sc.D) in Hydroclimatology from MIT.
Professor Eltahir received the US Presidential Early Career Award in 1997. He is an elected fellow of the American Geophysical Union, and a member of the Sudanese National Academy of Science. He is a member of the Scientific Council of the International Center of Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy. In 1999, Professor Eltahir received the Kuwait Prize in Applied Sciences for his work on Climate Change, making him the youngest person to receive this prestigious prize, offered to scientists from Arab countries. In 2017, Professor Eltahir received the Hydrologic Sciences Award from the American Geophysical Union.
Dr Hiba Salah-Eldin Mohamed
Image source: iend.org
Dr Hiba Salah-Eldin Mohamed is a molecular biologist at the University of Khartoum. She studied zoology at the university, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1993, followed by a master’s degree in 1998. She then received her PhD from the University of Cambridge Institute for Medical Research (CIMR) in Cambridge, the UK in 2002. Her doctoral research, “The Role of Host Genetics in Susceptibility to Kala-azar in Sudan”, was under the supervision of Jenefer Blackwell, a well-known Professor of Molecular Parasitology. Mohamed remained at the CIMR as a postdoctoral fellow. She, along with Professor Blackwell, were later awarded the Wellcome Trust Research Development Award (2004-2007). She then moved back to Sudan and joined the University of Khartoum to be a professor in the Department of Molecular Biology.
Mohamed was awarded the 2007 Royal Society Pfizer Award for her research on understanding the genetics of kala-azar, which is also known as Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL). In 2010, Mohamed was appointed a Fellow of the Global Young Academy.
Dr Abdel Rahman’s breakthrough in growing sugar cane method involved taking cells from plant leaves, shoots or roots and growing them in a liquid culture to produce artificial seeds able to germinate. Her results and patented techniques garnered global attention and attracted interest from huge research and production companies across the world. The breakthrough led to cheaper and more productive cultivation in developing countries.
Dr Abdel Rahman passed away in 2015 at the age 59 in the UK after a fight against cancer.
Professor Mohamed H A Hassan
Image source: TWAS
Professor Mohamed H A Hassan is co-chair of the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP), a global network of science academies, and Chairman of the Council of the United Nations University (UNU).
He received his higher education in the UK from Newcastle University and University of Oxford. After obtaining his Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics from the University of Oxford, he returned to Sudan to lecture at the University of Khartoum. He later became the Dean of the School of Mathematical Sciences at the university.
Professor Hassan has published several articles in Theoretical Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy; Wind Erosion, Dust and Sand Transport in Dry Lands; and Science and Technology in the Developing World.
He was the founding Executive Director of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), President of the African Academy of Sciences, and Chairman of the Honorary Presidential Advisory Council for Science and Technology in Nigeria.
He also serves on a number of boards of international organisations worldwide, including Global Change System for Analysis, Research and Training (START) in the USA; Bibliotheca in Alexandrina in Egypt; the Council of Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum in Japan; the International Science Programme in Sweden; the Science Initiative Group (SIG) in the USA; and the Centre for International Development (ZEF) in Germany. He is a member of several merit-based academies of science, including TWAS; the African Academy of Sciences; Islamic World Academy of Sciences; Academia Colombiana deCiencias Exactas, ísicas y Naturales; AcadémieRoyale des Sciences d’Outre-Mer, Belgium; Pakistan Academy of Sciences; Academy of Sciences of Lebanon; Cuban Academy of Sciences; and Academy of Sciences of South Africa.
Mohamed Osman Baloola
Image source: Mohamed Osman Baloola’s Facebook page
Engineer Mohammed Osman Baloola is a Sudanese scientist and inventor who was named among The World’s 500 Most influential Arabs in 2012 and 2013 for his work on diabetes ‘remote monitoring and control system for diabetes symptoms’. He has been a Teaching Assistant of Biomedical Engineering at the Ajman University of Science and Technology since 2010. Baloola won a science and innovation award at the Arabian Business Awards 2011 in Dubai. In addition, he won AED40,000 (USD11,000) during a Sharjah Television competition for his invention of a remote monitoring and control system for diabetes patients via mobile phone.
Baloola received a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Ajman University of Science and Technology in 2009. He later joined Ajman University as a Teaching Assistant in the faculty of Engineering.
Dr Muntaser Ibrahim
Image source: Research Gate
Dr Muntaseer Ibrahim is a Sudanese geneticist and professor of molecular biology at the University of Khartoum, where he leads its Institute of Endemic Diseases, a research and training centre on endemic diseases in the university. His research focuses on human genetic diversity in Africa. Dr Ibrahim is a founding member of the African Society of Human Genetics and co-founded the Sudanese National Academy of Science (SNAS). He is also a member of The World Academy of Sciences. He has co-authored more than 180 original peer-reviewed research publications, including work published in Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature, Nature Genetics, and other major journals.
Dr Nashwa Abo Alhassan Eassa
Image source: Picuki
Dr Nashwa Abo Alhassan Eassa is an assistant professor of physics at Al-Neelain University in Khartoum. She received a Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of Khartoum, a Master of Science in nanotechnology and materials physics from Sweden’s Linköping University, followed by a PhD from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in South Africa.
Dr Eassa founded the non-governmental organisation ‘Sudanese Women in Sciences’ and is a member of Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World’s South African Institute of Physics. In 2015, Dr Eassa won the Elsevier Foundation Award for Early Career Women Scientists in the Developing World. She has been a candidate as Arab Countries Vice-President for Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World.
Professor Widad Ibrahim Elmahboub
Professor Widad Ibrahim Elmahboub is a great scientist and astrophysicist. She has proved herself as a distinguished and competent scholar and scientist in her field. Having finished her college studies in applied mathematics and astrophysics in Sudan and Egypt, she was received a master’s degree in Engineering Physics by Wisconsin-Madison University, followed by a doctorate degree in astrophysical engineering.
Prof Elmahboub started her scientific career as a professor of astrophysics and remote sensing systems at Hampton University. Then she moved on to the research and analysis of planetary components at NASA with the main focus on enhancing the accuracy of satellite-based remote sensing imaging and data. Prof. Elmahboub has introduced a highly accurate computer-simulated mathematical model followed by the implementation of the algorithm and atmospheric correction method which enabled scientists and astrophysicists to obtain much more accurate and refined satellite images of Mars surface. Additionally, Prof Elmahboub has authored, co-authored and edited many articles in scientific journals and periodicals on remote sensing imaging technology, spectroscopy and simulated mathematical modelling.
Professor Sharief Babiker
Image source: ICCEEE’s Facebook page
Professor Sharief Babiker is a professor in the Electronics Department at the University of Khartoum and a Chairman of the world’s largest professional association dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanities ‘IEEE_sudan’ Subsection.
Prof Babiker received his bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronic engineering at the University of Khartoum, a master’s degree in telecommunications and information systems obtained in Essex University, the UK, followed by a nanoelectronics PhD degree at Glasgow University, Scotland. By the end of 2000, Prof Babiker was working on submicron semiconductor devices research at the Nanoelectronics Research Centre, University of Glasgow as well as on aerospace projects at Thales Avionics, the UK.
A Libyan pharmacologist treating HIV patients in South Africa and a Tunisian scientist purifying water in Malaysia.
This is the story of two world-renowned scientists who left their homelands of Libya and Tunisia and went on to achieve great success in South Africa and Malaysia.
Libyan pharmacologist Mohamed Irhuma studied in South Africa but faced a range of challenges when his home country went through its 2011 revolution. He’s achieved success in South African HIV AIDS pharmacology, including award-winning work on drug treatments.
Tunisian chemical engineer Mohamed Kheireddine Aroua is a world expert in material separation, inventing a life-changing water purification machine which benefits remote villages.
Both stories illustrate some of the complexities of being an Arab abroad, and the journeys of two remarkable scientists.
Prominent pathologist Doctor Sherif Zaki, founder and chief of the Infectious Disease Pathology Branch in the Coordinating Centre for Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, Georgia, passed away on 21 November, 2021.
Dr. Zaki was renowned for cracking medical mysteries by finding signatures of pathogens in diseased cells.
Through the application of classic and new technologies, Dr. Zaki and his team have made significant contributions to advancing the understanding of the pathogenesis and epidemiology of emerging infectious diseases.
Moreover, for his leadership, scientific contributions and commitment to Centre for Disease Control’s (CDC) public health mission, Dr. Zaki has been widely recognised and awarded, including receiving the US Health and Human Services Secretary’s Awards for Distinguished Service – the department’s highest honour – nine times.
Dr. Zaki and his staff were the first to identify the Hanta virus, later called the Sin Nombre virus, that caused the deaths of several people in the Navajo nation in the Southwest in 1993.
He also helped discover the Zika virus in the brain tissue of babies stricken with the mosquito-borne virus in Brazil, proving that it could be transmitted during pregnancy.
Dr. Zaki also helped identify the mechanisms that made Ebola and SARS so contagious and lethal.
Sherif Ramzy Zaki was born 24 November 1955, in Alexandria, Egypt.
He spent the first six years of his life in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where his father was attending graduate school.
Dr. Zaki received his medical degree from Alexandria University in 1978, before earning a master’s degree at his alma mater in pathology.
He earned a doctorate in experimental pathology from Emory University in Atlanta in 1989.
Dr. Zaki’s data on Scopus database showed that Zaki had published in the neighborhood of 400 scientific papers and had an advanced “H score” of 102 thus placing his impact on the field way above the 35-70 range for Noble Prize hopefuls.
Two Saudi Women Asrar Damdam and Lama Al-Abdi recently won awards from the L’Oreal-UNESCO for Women in Science Middle East Regional Young Talents Program for their work.
Dr. Asrar Damdam, was honored in the Ph.D. students’ category for her role in the development of a pump meant to revolutionize the way a healthy heartbeat is regulated — combining medicine, electrical engineering and electro-physics.
Dr. Lama Al-Abdi in recognition of her research on chromatin — a substance within chromosomes consisting of DNA and protein — and the regulation of genes in relation to vision loss.
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pix: twitter ( L t R) Dr. Lama AlAbdi and Dr. Asrar Damdam
