Dr. Haitham Shaaban Shaaban is currently an Associate Professor of Biophysics, he is also one of the Egyptian experts abroad in genome research and director of a research project at the Agora Center for Translational Cancer Research and the Lausanne University Medical Hospital in Switzerland. .
In Shaaban’s latest research in this area, he was able to monitor the movement of the genome and new structures in the living cancer cell for the first time, making it possible to predict and diagnose cancer in its early stages.
Egyptian scientist Haitham Shaaban will chair the conference, which is being prepared and is expected to be held in Ghana at the end of August, alongside Ghanaian-American scientist Kwezi Agbelik, director of the Sina Institute of Science and Technology in Ghana, and American scientist Thomas Brooker, professor of genetics and molecular biology at the University of Alabama, USA.
The importance of the event for Africa
And on the importance and benefits of this conference for the African continent, Haitham Shaaban said in statements to “Sky News Arabia”:
The idea to organize this conference originated years ago when Dr. Kwazi Agbelik and I met as postdoctoral researchers at Harvard University. We were enthusiastic about sharing our experiences gained abroad on the African continent, and our goal was to transfer knowledge and bring renowned scientists to share their expertise with students and researchers in Africa. We applied to the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology to host this conference, working diligently to convince them to organize the event in Africa and provide the necessary resources for its success.
The significance of this conference lies in its distinction as the first of its kind to be held on the African continent. Typically, scientific conferences organized by the American Societies for Experimental Biology take place in the United States or occasionally in Europe due to various factors such as visa restrictions and the concentration of specialists in those regions. Unfortunately, these factors hinder the dissemination of modern science and limit opportunities for researchers outside America and Europe to interact.
To overcome these obstacles, we resolved to host this conference in Africa. Furthermore, we carefully selected the conference theme to focus on health, basic medical sciences, and modern technological advancements. Specifically, the conference will highlight the utilization of cost-effective technologies like optical imaging and artificial intelligence-based quantitative methods in genome studies of healthy cells and genome-associated diseases. We will also discuss emerging technologies and modern tools for studying cellular and genomic functions, as well as their interactions with the environment in both health and disease.
The conference will welcome scientists from around the world to present their latest findings in this field, fostering interaction and communication between these experts and researchers on the African continent. Egypt, being a prominent African country in scientific research and currently spearheading the Egyptian Genome Project, holds particular significance in hosting this conference. The timing and specialization of the conference are expected to attract researchers from Egypt who are keen to present their research and learn about the latest advancements from scientists in this scientific field and related disciplines.
Surprisingly, we are pleased to announce that we plan to hold the conference in Egypt next year, with the intention of rotating its location annually within various countries in Africa and the Middle East region. This approach aims to ensure broader participation and opportunities for researchers from diverse regions to engage with cutting-edge research and foster international collaboration.
According to the biography of Dr. Haitham Shaaban, before taking up his current position in Switzerland, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University, a researcher at the French National Center for Scientific Research at the University of Toulouse and a visiting researcher at the British University of Oxford.
In 2015, Shaaban obtained a double doctorate in physics of optics and photonics from the University of Aix-Marseille, France, and the University of Florence, Italy, in the development of ultra-resolution optical microscopes.
Read the Latest World News Today on The Eastern Herald.
