Research Matters

Over the last couple of months, all of us here at Qatar National Research Fund have been busy with preparing and launching the latest cycles of some of our programs from our diverse portfolio of capacity building, competitive funding, and research connection programs.

From the discovery of radium and polonium by Marie Curie to the various women who helped land the first man on the moon, and more recently Özlem Türeci, who participated in developing the first approved messenger RNA-based vaccine against COVID; women in science have long played crucial and breakthrough roles in various fields of science. Women represent half of the global population and therefore hold half of the potential we need to achieve our development and progress goals. However, it is alarming that only around 30 percent of women make up the global research community.

The National Priorities Research Program (NPRP) is Qatar National Research Fund’s (QNRF) main funding program and the primary means by which QNRF seeks to support research that can help Qatar address its strategic needs, and further strengthen its position as a leading hub of research, development, and innovation in the region. Moreover, the NPRP also helps develop the skills and talents of an exceptional cohort of scientists, researchers, academics, and experts who will form the future leadership of key sectors in Qatar.

According to the most recent statistics, breast cancer has surpassed lung cancer as the most common form of cancer worldwide as observed on the occasion of World Cancer Day, marked every year on the 4^th of February. Breast cancer accounts for the largest number of cancer cases in the GCC and Qatar as well. This calls for a renewed urgency to respond to the rising rates of breast cancer and initiate impactful programs on global and country levels to raise awareness about this disease, help people at risk with timely detection, ensure access to suitable healthcare, and innovate treatments and medicines that are more effective.