A delegation from Faculty of Medicine at the University of Exeter in Britain visited the Faculty of Medicine at the Arab American University, as part of the research project on rare and common genetic diseases in the Palestinian society.
The delegation included Professor Peter Terpeni, a clinical geneticist, Professor Andrew Crosby, a human genome scientist, and Dr. Emma Babel, a clinical geneticist and scientist in genomic medicine and medical director of (South West Genomic Laboratory Hub).
They were received by Dr. Imad Dwaikat, the Dean of Faculty of Medicine, and Dr. Reham Khalaf Nazzal, Head of the Organs Functions and Medications Unit at the University.
During the visit, the delegation was briefed on the development plans in the Faculty of Medicine, such as the establishment of an advanced center for medical research in the field of genomic medicine and metabolic diseases. The center aims to link the medical needs of the Palestinian society with scientific research. It also aims to create a research base for rapid response to the requirements of diagnosis and treatment in the field of genomic and genetic diseases, with the latest scientific protocols.
During their visit, the delegation toured the clinics of the Faculty of Medicine and the laboratories of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Nursing. The two parties discussed the ways of expanding the horizons of future cooperation to include enhancing student and academic exchange in the clinical field and scientific research.
The delegation's visit included establishing research clinics in the field of genomics and genetics for some pathological conditions that did not obtain an accurate diagnosis and needed to conduct advanced scientific research in which both parties would participate.
It is important to mention that the Arab American University has a research and medical cooperation agreement with the University of Exeter in Britain since 2019, during which academics were exchanged, many applied genetic research were conducted and published, and a database linking demographic and clinical information with genetic and molecular information was started in order to enhance the capacity of the research center. To direct the health system to the best ways to deal with genomic and genetic diseases based on the information obtained from the database.
