Doha: Twelve undergraduate students of Biomedical Sciences presented six different research projects — a fruitful outcome of hard work and full commitment of both parties; faculty and students.
COVID-19 pandemic triggered a surge of research studies supervised by Dr. Gheyath Nasrallah, Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences.
The first research study was conducted by students Tala Jamaleddin and Huda Abdulhameed. They aimed to study the waning of antibodies immune response after COVID-19 vaccination.
This study showed that antibodies diminish as time progresses and that vaccination triggers a more robust immune response and better protection than natural infection. Another study was presented by students Amira Elsharafi and Fatima Alhamaydeh aimed to validate the rapid fluorescent S_RBD antibody assay and showed that FineCare immunoassay has an outstanding performance for anti-SARS-CoV-2 total antibodies detection in whole blood and serum samples.
Third research study focused on insulin resistance and its signalling pathways in mice models. It aimed to study the impact of anti-obesity treatment on insulin signalling in skeletal muscles of obese mice. It was supervised by Dr. Naser Rizk, the associate professor of Biomedical Sciences and conducted by the two students; Maryam Albadar and Dalal Zafer who found that plasma glucose and leptin were significantly decreased in Diet Induced Obesity (DIO) mice treated with sulforaphane (SNF) reflecting that SFN may enhance insulin sensitivity.
One group of Public Health students presented their graduation project, which was supervised by Dr Lily O’Hara. The group included Asmaa Alqahtani, Tharaa Al Shammari and Roudha Al Baker. The project was about evaluating the impact of the Be Body Positive online facilitator training program on participants’ experience of embodiment and self-compassion. The students concluded that this online training program had a significant and meaningful impact on participants’ experience of embodiment and self-compassion.
