From Cornell to WCMC-Q: E-friends across the oceans

Every fall, students in Ithaca and at Weill Cornell Medical College-Qatar (WCMC-Q) in Doha share an experience that -- perhaps more than any other -- unites Cornellians across continents and decades. They take Psych 101 with Jim Maas.

So in an October visit to Doha, Maas encouraged WCMC-Q students (who see him regularly through videoconferencing) to bond with their Ithaca counterparts through an e-mail pen pal program.

"One of the things that Cornell is trying to do is to make the world smaller, to increase understanding," said Maas. "The Middle East is so different from the Americas, in culture, religion and customs. There's very little understanding on a person-to-person basis. I thought one way to bridge this is to take something that is shared by both campuses -- which is this course -- as a starting point to initiate dialogue."

While the WCMC-Q students are pre-med, those in Ithaca are from all of Cornell's seven undergraduate schools and across several years.

"Being at Cornell has enhanced my understanding of other cultures," said Rebecca Robbins, Hotel '09, who leads the program. "I think it's really cool to be part of a university that has such an international focus."

The pen pal program, which was first floated informally in 2005, has been working well for a number of WCMC-Q students, including Faizah Siddique '09.

"We talked about our lives, friends, how things were in Ithaca compared to Doha, and what we were planning for ourselves. Sometimes, we asked each other for advice about what to do or how to study," she said. "It was really nice to get to know someone different -- it's just like making a new friend. My pen pal was excited to know about how things worked here in Doha, down to little facts like what we ate and how we dressed."

To add weight to the scheme this year, one point on the final course grade is offered to those who share at least four e-mails. The exchanges between students are monitored to collect data on longer-term participation.

Response has been enthusiastic on both campuses.

"My pen pal and I live on opposite sides of the world, but we are both two young women who are trying to get a college education," said second-year pre-med Maria Ahmad from Qatar. "I think that, no matter where you go in the world, women will usually have the same interests."

Student talent promises 'a good future' for research in Qatar

From asthma to protein crystallization, some of WCMC-Q's top students presented diverse research projects at the fourth annual Medical Student Research Forum in October.

The event featured research presentations by 20 first- and second-year medical students, many of whom spent the summer working with Cornell researchers in Ithaca and New York City. Senior faculty awarded prizes for the top presentations.

The annual competitive summer research fellowships give WCMC-Q students a chance to interact with the broader scientific community and to participate in cutting-edge research with teams of investigators.

Student research is also part of a broader effort to build a sustainable research enterprise in Qatar, said Javaid Sheikh, vice dean for research at WCMC-Q, through partnerships among Cornell, WCMC, WCMC-Q, Hamad Medical Corp., the National Health Authority and Qatar Foundation's National Research Fund (QNRF).

Recently, there has been a shift toward projects relevant to Qatar, Sheikh noted. He also emphasized training the students to better explain "the real-world application of their findings."

Mohamed El Shazly '10, who shared first prize in the oral presentations section with Nigel Pereira, worked on genetic polymorphisms in diabetes with Ronald G. Crystal, professor of genetic medicine at WCMC.

Understanding the genetics could lead to improved ways to manage the disease, which affects up to 15 percent of the population in Qatar, by developing "personalized medicine," El Shazly said.

"The students were excellent," said Imad Khaddouri, special projects officer for QNRF. "With such potential, there's a good future here for research activities."

Expanding collaboration with Qatar University

Cooperation with Qatar University (QU) is growing, particularly between WCMC-Q premedical faculty and their QU colleagues. This semester Michael Pungente, WCMC-Q assistant professor of chemistry, is involved with QU's newly opened pharmacy program as coordinator of the introductory medicinal chemistry courses. Last year, Pungente helped draft the program's curriculum.

Meanwhile Marco Ameduri and Roger Hinrichs, both professors of physics at WCMC-Q, have been active in forming the Qatar Physics Society with QU faculty. Hinrichs is also teaching in QU's prepharmacy curriculum.