Research Profiles

A survey study was conducted to examine the mental health stress experienced by university students in Qatar during the COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2020, Qatar witnessed a significant rise in COVID-19 cases, prompting concerns about the mental well-being of vulnerable populations, including students. Similar studies conducted in various countries have revealed increased levels of depression, anxiety, and stress among college students in the aftermath of the pandemic. Therefore, the aim of this cross-sectional survey was to assess the prevalence of depressive symptoms and their variations among 300 participants, including students from University of Doha and others, during the challenging COVID-19 pandemic.

Proposal Description:   Obesity, and associated diabetes type II and cardio-vascular diseases, have assumed epidemic proportions in most industrialized countries. Particularly important is the exceptionally high prevalence of obesity and diabetes type II in the Qatari population. This study aims to generate a prioritized panel of risk factors, genes and molecular pathways associated with obesity in Qatari. The study focuses on defining the epidemiological factors associated with obesity in the Qatari population. A specific effort will be deployed to define the biology of the white and brown adipose tissues of obese Qatari compared to healthy non-obese individuals using genomics and proteomics high-throughput technologies including microarray and massive parallel sequencing technologies. The proposed study is innovative and multidisciplinary through the integration of epidemiological, genomics and proteomics approaches to study the commonalities and peculiarities of obesity in Qatari. This project is expected to significantly impact the research, prevention and public awareness in obesity in Qatar. Benefit to Qatar: The present proposal is targeting the obesity as a major health problem with several implications in the clinical and public health arenas of Qatar. We expect this research work to advance scientific, technological, educational and public health understanding of obesity among Qataris. The results of this project play a fundamental role in the identification and understanding of the epidemiologic risk factors associated with the obesity in Qataris, functions and interactions of macromolecules in cells and deciphering the biological mechanisms of obesity as well as the translation of the scientific discovery into preventive and predictive medicine of obesity and metabolic diseases. Therefore, all institutions in Qatar that are interested in clinical medicine, pharmacology, and biotechnology might use the results of this project. It will have a significant impact in training and building the research capacity in Qatar, which will provide a decisive boost towards a research infrastructure that could establish Qatar as a leading force in the genomics and proteomics fields, and in the prevention of non communicable diseases such as obesity not only in the Gulf region but also all over the world. Undergraduate and medical students from the different universities established in Qatar will be involved throughout the project, and will benefit by improving their research skills.