Alfaisal University and Bristol University held a joint symposium at the premises of Alfaisal University on 7th October, 2019. The University warmly welcomed the guest speakers from Bristol University who enlightened the students and faculty on the topic of “Studying Disease using Stem Cells and Organoids”. The guest speakers, Professor David Murphy, Professor James Uney and Dr. Liang-Fong Wong along with Alfaisal’s faculty speakers, Dr. Abdullah Alshawaf, Dr. Reem Saud, Dr. Raed Abu-Dawud and Dr. Junaid Kashir spoke on the importance of how stem cells can be used to model incurable diseases in humans and finding cures and developing treatments for those diseases. The Symposium was accredited by Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCHS) and granted 7 CME hours to its attendees.
During the guests 3-day visit to Alfaisal, Bristol, KFSHRC and Alfaisal faculty also jointly held research seminars on the 6th of October, 2019 which proved to be an excellent opportunity for our students to learn more about the potential areas for student projects here at Alfaisal, and also potential PhD projects available at Bristol.
The College of Medicine also organized a social program for the speakers in which the guest speakers visited the Masmak Fort and learnt in great detail about the rich culture and history of Saudi Arabia. The College of Medicine also held closed meetings with the delegation from Bristol University where they outlined a plan to further collaborate on research, student and faculty exchange programs as well as joint education programs.
Dr. Liang-Fong Wong during her visit gave her impressions on the University. She found Alfaisal University to be a vibrant place, full of energy and she looked forward to meeting the students and faculty at the symposium. She also emphasized on the importance of how the study of stem cells and organoids can help find the cures for incurable diseases in humans.