Alums contribute to research in diabetes, communication with the deaf

Three alumni from Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar have been recognized for their contributions in the areas of diabetes research and communication between deaf and hearing populations.

Alumnus Omair Al-Nuaimi was a co-author on the paper, “Association between diabetes mellitus and olfactory dysfunction: current perspectives and future directions,” recently published in Diabetic Medicine. Al-Naemi, who graduated in 2017 from the Biological Sciences Program and now works at Sidra Medicine, contributed to the project while still a student at CMU-Q. The paper’s co-authors include: Ahmed H. Zaghloul, Maria Pallayova, Kenneth Hovis, and Shahrad Taheri.

Bushra Memon, who completed her studies in biological sciences in 2016, published a research paper in the esteemed Stem Cell Research & Therapy journal. Memon, who is now with the Diabetes Research Center at Hamad Bin Khalifa University’s Qatar Biomedical Research Institute, published the paper with co-authors Manale Karam, Sara Al-Khawaga and Eassam Abdelalim.

Humaira Tasnim, (pictured, second from the right) who graduated from the Information Systems Program in 2013, was on the winning team at the fall 2017 poster session at University of Toronto’s Knowledge Media Design Institute. Tasnim, along with co-authors Elena Chapman, Justina Lam, MandHumewy Poon, Claudia Szabuniewicz and Amelia Tan, won for their work titled, “Bridging the Divide Between Deaf and Hearing Communities.” The group contends that current communication methods between deaf and hearing communities are inadequate and alternative methods are needed that better meet the requirements of the deaf community.