Newsroom

Dear Readers,
Welcome to the seventh edition of QNRF’s newsletter, ‘Research Matters’. As the second half of the year hurtles onward, the spread of COVID-19 continues to deeply impact our daily lives and livelihoods in so many ways. We are seeing the systematic phased lifting of lockdown measures by the Government of Qatar, and we will surely begin to adjust to the new normal of living with the virus.
 

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) have helped probe the genetic diversity and origins of the Arabian horse, prized all over the world for its beauty, grace and athletic endurance.

Through co-operation between Qatar University (QU) and the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME), a joint research team has worked on a scientific project aiming to address the main challenges represented by lack of clean, renewable energy globally and the continuous production of wastewater that the world faces and hinders human development.

The Gas Processing Centre (GPC) at the College of Engineering, Qatar University (QU), in collaboration with Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (Qeeri) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, College of Business and Economics at QU and Qatar Green Building Council, have received the prestigious QNRF National Priorities Research Programme - Cluster grant.
 

A research project has identified the main solid waste streams in Qatar for potential use in construction and investigated advanced technologies for recycling that could be effectively applied in the country. In a statement, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) said it was awarded the project by the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) regarding the implementation of recycled materials in construction.

A research study spearheaded by clinical researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar (WCM-Q) has shown for the first time that type-2 diabetes can be reversed in those originating from the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region. 
The internationally competitive work is the first intensive lifestyle intervention trial in the Mena region and the first clinical trial in primary care in Qatar. The clinical trial demonstrated significant weight loss as well as reversal of type 2 diabetes in more than 60% of intervention participants.

A research team from Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), a Qatar Foundation (QF) partner university, received the Best Paper award for 2019 from the Journal of Information Systems Education (JISE). The paper arose from a multi-year research project called Scaffolding Literacy in Academic and Tertiary Environments in Qatar (SLATE-Q), which was funded by Qatar National Research Fund. Silvia Pessoa, Maria Pia Gomez-Laich, Divakaran Liginlal, and Thomas Mitchell authored the winning submission.

Augmenting the efforts to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, the Qatar Mobility Innovations Centre (Qmic) is developing an innovative mechanism that will be made available by July to enforce efficient quarantine measures for people coming to the country.

RESEARCH projects designed to help children with autism learn from home, enforce quarantine measures, and safeguard mental health of healthcare workers, will be supported through a new, streamlined funding call launched by Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), to help Qatar combat COVID-19.
With the needs of Qatar and the health and safety of its people as its priority, the Qatar Foundation (QF) member – which is the region’s leading research funding agency – developed the Rapid Response Call (RRC) from scratch in record time and accelerated the evaluation and funding phases to ensure that the proposed outcomes of awarded projects are met as soon as possible.