Qatar Sheikha Moza bint Nasser Attends Sidra Medicine’s DMT Conference

Doha, September 29 (QNA) – HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), on Monday attended Sidra Medicine’s first Disease Modeling and Therapeutics (DMT) conference. The event highlighted Qatar’s commitment to advancing therapeutic innovation and research on diseases of global importance.

HE Minister of Public Health Mansoor bin Ebrahim bin Saad Al Mahmoud and other dignitaries also attended the opening ceremony, which featured keynote addresses from leading scientists.

Sidra Medicine’s CEO, Dr. Iyabo Tinubu-Karch, described DMT 2025 as a platform where innovation meets collaboration: “It positions Sidra Medicine and Qatar as leaders in transformative healthcare, while reinforcing our mission to share knowledge and pioneer research that improves lives globally.”

Chief Research Officer Prof. Khalid Fakhro stressed the importance of integrating research with healthcare, noting: “By convening experts in Doha, we ensure the latest breakthroughs in disease modeling and cell-based therapies are shared and contextualized for our population. Our goal is to accelerate research translation into clinical practice and strengthen Qatar’s global role in medical innovation.”

The opening day focused on diabetes care, with keynote addresses and a panel discussion titled Translating Stem Cell Research into Clinical Applications for Diabetes.

Speakers included Dr. James Shapiro (University of Alberta, Canada), who presented advances in stem cell–derived islet therapies aimed at restoring insulin production without immune suppression. Dr. Sonja Schrepfer (Cedars Sinai Medical Center, USA) shared clinical trial results using hypo immune technology, which achieved insulin production in a type 1 diabetes patient without immunosuppressive drugs. Dr. Hao Yin (Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, China) discussed generating patient-specific insulin-secreting cells for type 2 diabetes therapy.

Other contributions came from Dr. Camillo Ricordi (University of Miami), renowned for his islet isolation technology and pioneering diabetes research, and Dr. Matthias Hebrok (Technical University Munich), who develops gene-edited stem cell–derived pancreatic organoids for future cell replacement therapies.

DMT 2025 marks a milestone in Qatar’s journey toward becoming a hub for regenerative medicine and advancing personalized healthcare solutions.