October 5^th. Prof. Rami Hamdallah, President of An-Najah University, met with a delegation from the Palestinian Forum for Medical Research (PFMR) at his office at the Old Campus. The delegation was headed by Dr. Rami Iqilan, Chairman of the PFMR, and consisted of members and founders of the Forum.

At the beginning of the meeting Prof. Hamdallah welcomed the guests and introduced them to the latest developments that the University witnessed as well as the scientific achievements it made over the years. He also familiarized the delegation with the University, its faculties, scientific centers and students.

The delegation members discussed with Prof. Hamdallah the possible cooperation and scientific expertise exchange opportunities between the PFMR and the University in the field of scientific research and the development of Palestinian competency.

After the meeting, the delegation visited the University’s Old and New Campuses where they were introduced to the different facilities and buildings.

Following the visit, the PFMR organized a scientific seminar under the auspices of the University President at the Korean-Palestinian IT Institute of Excellence, New Campus titled “Bridging Knowledge in Medical Research between Palestinian Scholars”. Attendees included Professor Anwar Dudin, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dr. Iqilan, Chairman of the PFMR, Dr. Musa Hindiyeh, from Cartias Baby Hospital in Bethlehem, Dr. Yaqoub Ashhab, Palestine Polytechnic University in Hebron, in addition to the PFMR’s Coordination Committee at An-Najah which consisted of Dr. Ayman Yusef, Dr. Rasha Khayyat and Dr. Iyad Al-Ali from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at An-Najah.

At the beginning of the seminar, Professor Dudin welcomed the participants and said that An-Najah is continuously concerned with training and serving its key scientists and scholars and dedicates its potentials to support scientific research in Palestine. He stressed the importance of scientific research as a major field of investment for the Palestinians.

Dr. Iqilan then delivered a presentation in which he introduced the PFMR to the participants and explained that the idea behind establishing this forum was the fact that there are many scientific researchers in Palestine in the different fields of medical knowledge and several scientific issues that need to be resolved. He also mentioned that there is no specialized body that could take the responsibility to support the Palestinian researchers and students. Furthermore, he said that helping postgraduate students find scholarships in the fields that are related to medical research was among the main reasons behind establishing the PFMR.

Three work papers were presented at the seminar, the first one was titled “Genetic Diseases: Current and Future Aspects in Clinical Diagnosis and Research in the West Bank” by Dr. Ayman Hussein from An-Najah. The second paper was delivered by Dr. Hindiyeh and titled “Diagnostic Microbiology in Palestine: A Potential for Interesting Discoveries”, while the last one was titled “Bioinofrmatics for Biomedical Research and Diagnosis in Palestine: Opportunities and Challenges” by Dr. Ashhab.

At the conclusion of the seminar, the participants came out with a number of recommendations and suggestions that included bringing together efforts with respect to scientific research in Palestine, suggesting solutions for the Palestinian medical issues, establishing relationships between medical researchers inside and outside Palestine.