Economies driven by science and innovation are the way forward, says expert at QF

Dr. Ali Sultan, a Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar, shares key insights on how the Arab World can continue to grow

Creating a center of excellence for Arab scientists, developing strong STEM programs in schools, and defining priorities of the region – these are some of the key aspects Dr. Ali Sultan highlighted when asked about what would it take to advance the field of scientific research in the Arab world.

As an expert with over two decades of experience in the field of Microbiology and Immunology, Dr. Sultan, a professor of Microbiology and Immunology at Qatar Foundation partner university Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar, combines his extensive research on infectious diseases, microbial pathogenesis, and the human microbiome with his role in medical education.

Dr. Sultan strongly believes in the potential the Arab region holds in terms of scientific research – identifying capabilities and challenges. “Scientists in the Arab world need to collaborate, and we should be able to create some kind of communication between each other so that we can work together,” he said.

In the context of the advancing scientific research in the region, he also emphasized that the era of memorization in schools is gone, and that technology and innovation should be at the forefront of education where students are taught critical and analytical thinking skills through robust STEM curriculums

“We also need to set our scientific priorities – be it energy, climate change, food security, AI – so that we can focus our efforts in the right direction. If we take Taiwan as an example, they decided to focus on one thing and perfect it, which is semiconductors and microchips, and they have become the number one producer of both in the world today,” said Dr. Sultan.

Speaking more specifically about his area of expertise, Dr. Sultan highlighted that infectious diseases can sometimes come to the front as what happened with the COVID-19 pandemic. And despite the effective measures Qatar is taking in terms of screening travelers coming into the country and providing excellent healthcare to control infectious diseases, it is still crucial to have ongoing research due to the risk of imported diseases brought by travelers.

“Some of the challenges we need to address in the field of research on infectious diseases is that most of us – practitioners, researchers, or professors – work in silos. And I think more interaction between us and other universities in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health and the Communicable Disease Center at Hamad Medical Corporation can be very helpful for research,” said Dr. Sultan.

And proof of how collaboration can lead to tangible results in a short time and impact policy making, is the collaboration between Dr. Ali Sultan, Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Hamad Medical Corporation, and Dr. Asma Al Thani, Professor?of Virology at the Biomedical Science Department, Qatar University, on surveying the population for the prevalence of the human papilloma virus (HPV) and developing an immunization plan.

“It was a fantastic collaboration. After collecting thousands of samples to assess the prevalence of HPV in Qatar, it revealed to be very low at 3.5 percent compared to 20-30 percent in other countries. With cervical cancer also revealed to be very low in Qatari women compared to women in the Arab region,” said Dr. Sultan.

Based on this collaboration, a discussion was initiated with the Ministry of Public Health on the importance of surveying and tracking the prevalence of the disease over the years. And the possibility of making the HPV vaccine compulsory for girls if proved to be increasing.

When it comes to regional challenges, Dr. Sultan underlined that restrictions on academic freedom can impede the progress of scientific discovery, and other obstacles such as complex administrative policies and differing research funding mechanisms can hinder cross-border collaborations.

Dr. Sultan also called on policymakers and heads of states to work on navigating research policies in the Arab region, saying: “Arab countries invest between 0.2 percent – 0.4 percent of their national GDP into research and science. Other countries, such as Japan, United States, Germany and other European countries, invest up to 7 percent, which is almost 10 times of what is spent in our region. Brazil, for example, had set an agenda a while ago to spend 10 percent of the country’s GDP in research on science, they opened a few science centers and universities that mainly focus on scientific research, and I think that's the way forward.”

Prior to moving to Qatar, Dr. Sultan had a very successful career, but a question would always remain at the back of his mind, which was: if we cannot go back and give back to our countries, who else will?

“I took my chance to relocate to Qatar, and I was surprised. I found it a fantastic place to work. The environment is very cosmopolitan. The support we receive from partner entities allows us to perform cutting-edge research and offer first-class medical education.

“I think if we want to attract scientists from the Arab diaspora to come back, the first thing we should look to, is to have a developed, thriving place. And in the Arab region it cannot be built by one person, so we need them to connect and collaborate with fellow scientists and researchers.”