Ailyn Agonia
Doha
QATAR Genome Programme (QGP) plans to reach 10,000 whole genomes sequencing by June, 2018, and finalise policies and regulations that will provide guidelines for genomic research in the country.
Speaking at the opening of Sidra's 3rd Annual Functional Genomics held at St Regis Doha on Monday, Dr Asma al Thani, chairperson of Qatar Genome Programme Committee, said that QGP, in its pilot phase, has already reached 6,000 genomes sequencing by June, 2017.
Dr Asma, who is also Board vice-chairperson of Qatar Biobank, added that Qatar Biobank has already supplied more than 8,000 samples to Sidra for sequencing. The event was co-organised by Nature Genetics.
Another goal of the pilot phase is to work closely with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) to bring international consultants to the country and work with them to finalisethe first policies and guidelines for Qatar Genome, she pointed out.
Similarly, Dr Asma al Thani said they are working on a pilot study for genomic reports focusing on lifestyle and wellness.
"QGP aims to position Qatar as the pioneer in the implementation of advanced personalised healthcare. Through innovation and integration of genomic and other 'omics' technologies into medical and research practices Qatar seeks to improve population healthcare and contribute to a knowledge-based economy," she said about the vision and mission of the initiative.
She also stressed QGP's role in contributing to building human capacity in the country by establishing graduate programmes at local universities such as initiating two MSc programmes at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) and Qatar University (QU).
The MSc in Genomic and Precision Medicine that has opened at HBKU with 20 students is a multidisciplinary programme aiming to educate and train practitioners and researchers who can contribute to enhanced healthcare solutions in Qatar. The MSc in Genetic Counselling is likely to be offered at Qatar University by Spring/ Fall in 2018. The course is in the final stage of preparation and will be presented to the QU Board in January, next year. The programme would be the first of its kind in Qatar and the region and aims to produce graduates, who are aware of local considerations in the field and trained both academically and professionally.
The other accomplishments of QGP since its inception include the conduct of two public surveys, launch of Qatar research consortium, hosting three summer internships and plans to partner with Hamad Medical Corporation and Weill Cornell Medicine to develop Qatari Gene Chip that will incorporate local gene variants to be used for screening, pre-marital testing, disease diagnosis/ risk and pharmacogenomics.
The three-day international conference titled 'Functional Genomics Symposium: Towards Precision Medicine' features 41 speakers from 10 countries from across five continents, according to Dr Khalid Fakhro, chair of the Functional Genomics Symposium 2017. The gathering also features five selected oral presentations and 17 posters and 11 exhibitors/ sponsors.
The opening of the conference was attended by Sidra Medicine CEO Peter Morris and Sidra Medicine Acting Chief Research Officer Dr Ena Wang and Dr Hadi Abderrahim of Qatar Foundation Research and Development.