Research Publications - College of Medicine and Health Science

The 2nd Conferment ceremony for new members of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine, Royal College of Physicians (Ireland),
Al-Ain, May 2011
awarded First prize by the British Medical Association
in their 2011 round of the Books on
Medicine category (Patient Information Awards,
2011).
The department, and in particular Professor
Nico Nagelkerke, continues to receive requests
from colleagues within the Faculty of Medicine
and external organisations e.g. hospitals, health
authorities, and other agencies for statistical
support and advice. There was a substantial
increase in the number of in-house and external
courses on statistics and epidemiology delivered
by our staff in 2011. This is especially with
the launch of several masters and doctoral level
degrees by other Faculty departments requiring
modules on research methods, critical appraisal,
and biostatistics. Demand for training in occupational
medicine has also accelerated following
the designation of FMHS as an overseas
exam centre for the Faculty of Occupational
Medicine, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland
(FOM). We conducted several courses on
aspects of occupational health during the year.
This attracted participants from the region (UAE,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia) and beyond (Pakistan,
Nigeria, Australia). The 2nd conferment
ceremony of the FOM in the UAE was held in Al-
Ain in May, 2011 for new licentiates, members,
and fellows (see photos above).
Our epidemiologists (Drs Syed Shah, Fatma
Al-Maskari, Mohamud Sheek-Hussein) worked
on several existing and new grants for diabetes,
cardio-vascular diseases, infections, and other
chronic diseases. Dr Shah supervised a visiting
Fulbright scholar (Matthew Skerritt) from the
US. The department also hosted a Masters student
(Lilian Ilesanmi-Oyelere) from the University
of Canterbury, New Zealand.
International links were strengthened following
the signing of an MOU (Memorandum of
understanding) with the National University of
Malaysia. This adds to previous MOUs signed
with the University of Malaya, the FOM (Ireland),
and locally with health authorities (Abu
Dhabi and Dubai) and health care providers
(SEHA). The international MOUs have led to an
exchange of staff and students, participation
as external examiners, and delivery of training.
Following the MOUs, we placed several of our
medical students for elective postings in Dublin
and in Kuala Lumpur.
An exciting new initiative in 2011 followed the
visit of Dr Peter Landless, Executive Director of
the International Commission for the Prevention
of Smoking and drug dependency (ICPA),
to our department. Dr Landless and ICPA
agreed to sponsor a health promotion project
in our department. This led to the arrival of Dr
Daniel Handysides from Loma Linda University
to conduct research and develop programs for
smoking cessation.
There were several distinguished visitors to our
department last year. They delivered presentations
on topics of recent research interest ranging
from public health practice to occupational
medicine. The visitors included:
a) Dr Ali Hasan Al Marzooqi, Dubai Health Authority
b) Dr Alex Finlayson, Oxford University
c) Professor David Whitworth, RCSI-Medical
University of Bahrain
d) Professor David Sheehan, University of South
Florida
e) Dr Jennifer Lim, University of Leeds
f) Professor Markku Sainio, Finnish Institute of
Occupational Health
g) Dr Mohammad Al Redha, Dubai Health Authority
h) a team from the Children’s National Medical
Center, Washington DC, and students from Harvard
and the American University in Dubai
Department of Community Medicine
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