It is our pleasure to announce that Dr Moni Nader an Assistant Professor of Physiology in the College of Medicine has received an award from the KACST National Plan for Science & Technology (NPST) as Principle Investigator. His research project is entitled: Role of striatin in regulating calcium homeostasis in cardiomyocytes: a novel regulator of the L-type calcium channel. The 1,984,000 million SAR two year project is in collaboration with King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre. Cardiac arrhythmias claim thousands of lives every year due to the lack of effective therapies. The results of the study should provide a basis for the rational development of therapeutic strategies to help stabilize cardiac rhythm and consequently, reduce morbidity.
Dr Ahmed Yaqinuddin an Assistant Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology in the College of Medicine has also been awarded a 1,271,875 SAR two year grant as part of the same recent competition. The project which is entitled “Determination of DNA methylation profile of breast cancer patient to develop diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers” is in collaboration with King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre. This research will help to develop new strategies for detecting cancer in the preclinical and pre-symptomatic phase.
“We would like to extend our warmest congratulations to both Dr Moni and Dr Ahmed for their achievements in receiving these competitive awards,” said Matheus (Theo) Goosen, the Associate Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies at Alfaisal University. “We look forward to many more such awards from our productive faculty members at Alfaisal University,” he added. Since Alfaisal University is a private institution, all NPST applications must be submitted through a government university or institution, such as KSU or KFSHRC.
