AGU professor joins WHO regional advisory committee

Manama, Dec. 21 (BNA): A professor in the Arabian Gulf Arabian University (AGU) was selected for membership of the Eastern Mediterranean Advisory Committee on Health Research by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office. Randa Hamada who is the Vice Dean of Graduate Studies and Research at the College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, AGU, in addition to her work as a professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. Dr. Hamada has over a hundred and twenty scientific researches published in peer reviewed scientific journals in several fields, notably smoking, non-communicable diseases and disease burden. Dr Hamada is also a member of the Global Burden of Disease Expert Team at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in the University of Washington. She was recently appointed Commissioner of the Lancet Neurology Journal to study strokes in low and middle-income countries. It is also worth mentioning that Dr Hamada contributes to the peer review of papers submitted for publication in several regional and international scientific journals. Membership of the WHO Health Research Advisory Committee is an honourary appointment for outstanding individuals in the field of health research, in recognition of their contribution to this field, and in order to benefit from their expertise in guiding health research in the region. The Health Research Advisory Committee, affiliate to the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office was established in 1976 to assist in further development of the regional research programme, adapted to the local needs of the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region, as part of WHO’s overall Research Programme. The committee also works on setting recommendations for research topics that reflect the priorities of the region, contributing to the development of health policies, and the correspondence of scientific health research agenda with strategic health goals of the region. The Health Research Advisory Committee handles a range of tasks, including the recommendation and evaluation of health research in the region and the development of research policies and agendas corresponding with strategic priorities in the region. It also promotes research as a key tool for health development as a means of framing evidence-based change policies and procedures. It supports the development of effective health research systems and strengthens research capacities in the region, in addition to providing consultations in the development of ethics policies for clinical medical research and advice on ethical standards applicable to health research activities in the region.