PALERMO (ITALPRESS) – Two weeks under the banner of research and internationalization, bringing together three universities from as many countries to strengthen academic and international cooperation. The University of Palermo is hosting the Winter School on Diabetes and Cardiometabolic Risk: forty faculty and students from Qatar University in Doha and RAK Medical & Health Sciences University in the United Arab Emirates will participate in an intensive training and research program, focusing on topics of primary medical and scientific importance such as diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease.
The opening ceremony, held in the Aula Magna of Palazzo Steri, Palermo, was attended by Rector Massimo Midiri, Mohamed El-Tanani, Vice President RAK Medical and Health Sciences University, and Michail Nomikos, Head of Research and Graduate Studies Qatar University; also present, via video link, were the Italian ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Lorenzo Fanara, and the equal role in Qatar, Paolo Toschi. The program of the Winter School, which kicks off today and will conclude on April 4, includes interactive sessions, workshops and round tables to foster the exchange of ideas and collaboration; a special focus on strategies for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cardiometabolic diseases; lectures, educational activities and training sessions in numerous facilities of the University of Palermo and the Polyclinic with the involvement of a large number of faculty and young researchers.
“It is an event of great impact on internationalization, as well as the result of a long work, including diplomatic work, that has involved the Italian embassies in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates,” Midiri emphasizes. “Today for the first time we see in Palermo and Sicily a delegation of students from these countries: they will make a journey together with our teachers on the topics of diabetes and cardiovascular prevention, which in that area represent a very serious cause of early deaths.
In addition, the rector points out how “this project will have a great impact on international relations between our university and theirs: for Palermo it is a golden opportunity, because these universities have impressive private funding and if they decide to invest in our city we would go for a growth opportunity, both in technology and in the exchange that our young people could have to attend periods of stay and study in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.”
Praise for the initiative is also given by El-Tanani: “This event is really important for our University: we have sent our students here to gain experience not only in the academic and clinical field, but also in the cultural field. All this cements the collaboration between our University and the University of Palermo to foster student exchange in the future.”
He is echoed by Nomikos: “We are really happy to participate in this initiative-I think our students will only benefit from such an important event-I hope this can be the beginning of a long-term collaboration between the Universities of Qatar and Palermo. I am really grateful to the organizers for what they have accomplished.”
Ambassador Fanara also addresses his appreciation toward the event, which gives him a way to reconnect with an Athenaeum that has great significance for him: “I graduated from Palermo 32 years ago and I feel honored to emphasize its commitment in the international arena: last month there was the first historic visit of the president of the United Arab Emirates to Italy, and Mattarella, who is also from Palermo, stressed that relations between the two countries must be based on research and cooperation. The presence of our students in Palermo helps to strengthen this cooperation: there are many extraordinary beauties in this city, I tell the students to combine their commitment to study with tourism.”
Ambassador Toschi, too, says he is “delighted that Qatar University has joined this program fielded by the University of Palermo, this will strengthen cooperation between the universities of the two countries: Qatar has been strongly committed to the development of these issues in recent years and Italy is an important interlocutor to foster research.”
– photo xd8/Italpress –
(ITALPRESS).
