Doha: HH Chairperson of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) Sheikha Moza bint Nasser on Monday attended Sidra Medicine’s first Disease Modeling and Therapeutics (DMT) conference. The opening plenary included several keynote addresses, underscoring Qatar’s commitment to advancing research and therapeutic innovation for diseases of global significance. HE Minister of Public Health Mansoor bin Ebrahim bin Saad Al Mahmoud and other dignitaries were also in attendance at the conference.
According to Qatar News Agency, CEO of Sidra Medicine Dr. Iyabo Tinubu-Karch stated that DMT 2025 serves as a platform where world-class innovation meets collaboration. The conference underlines Sidra Medicine and Qatar’s mission to lead in transformative healthcare, emphasizing a commitment to knowledge-sharing and collaboration on pioneering research techniques, technologies, and medical discoveries that improve lives both locally and globally.
Highlights from the opening featured keynote addresses by pioneering scientists whose research is shaping the future of diabetes care. The speakers also participated in a panel discussion on translating stem cell research into clinical applications for diabetes. This first conference marks a milestone in Qatar’s journey to the forefront of regenerative medicine discussions.
Chief Research Officer at Sidra Medicine Prof. Khalid Fakhro noted that Sidra Medicine is committed to integrating research and healthcare, especially around conditions impacting the community. The gathering of global experts in Doha ensures that breakthroughs in disease modeling and cell-based therapies are shared and contextualized for local needs. He emphasized the commitment to accelerating research translation into clinical practice and strengthening Qatar’s role in global medical innovation.
Through collaborative sessions and invaluable discussions, DMT 2025 aims to emphasize the significance of disease modeling technologies and their application to personalized therapies. Keynote sessions and experts from the panel discussion on Day 1 included Dr. James Shapiro from the University of Alberta, Canada, who shared insights on manufacturing autologous stem cell-derived islet therapies without immune suppression.
Dr. Sonja Schrepfer from Cedars Sinai Medical Center in the USA presented her work on hypo-immune technology, protecting transplanted cells from immune rejection. Her team’s clinical trials demonstrated insulin production in a type 1 diabetes patient without immunosuppressive drugs, marking a milestone in cell-based therapies.
Dr. Hao Yin from Shanghai Changzheng Hospital in China outlined progress in endoderm stem cell-derived islet therapy, generating patient-specific insulin-secreting cells. His team showed early success in clinical trials for type 2 diabetes, paving the way for personalized, long-term treatment options.
Dr. Camillo Ricordi from the Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami focused on 40 years of the Ricordi Chamber and the Automated Method for Human Islet Isolation. Known for inventing the technology for large-scale human pancreatic islet isolation, he performed the first successful islet allotransplants to reverse diabetes.
Dr. Matthias Hebrok from Technical University Munich, Germany, leads the Institute for Diabetes and Organoid Technology at Helmholtz Munich. His work involves differentiating human stem cells into functional pancreatic organoids, developing hormone-producing islet cells for cell replacement therapies for diabetes patients.