KFAS concludes precision medicine program in Washington in partnership with NASEM

KUWAIT, Oct 20 (KUNA) -- Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) announced Monday the conclusion of the "Precision Medicine: Enhancing Knowledge Exchange and Collaboration between Kuwait and the United States" program, held in Washington, DC in partnership with the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM).
In a press statement, KFAS said the two-day program brought together a select group of scientists and physicians from Kuwait and the United States and was attended by Kuwait's Ambassador to the US Sheikha Al-Zain Al-Sabah.
The program featured intensive sessions and advanced scientific discussions on integrating genomics with environmental factors, policies and governance in precision medicine, as well as building technical infrastructure and enabling cross-border data exchange to support research and clinical application.
KFAS noted that the program's scientific committee was chaired by Chair of the Medical Liability Authority Dr. Sheikh Salman Al-Sabah, a recipient of the Jabir Al-Ahmad Young Researcher Award, who helped oversee the event's themes and outcomes to strengthen bilateral research collaboration in precision medicine and advanced medical technologies.
The event also featured contributions by leading Kuwaiti physicians, including Dr. Waddah Al-Refaie, Arnold W. Lempka Endowed Chair of Surgery at Creighton University, who delivered a lecture titled "Translating Surgical Research into Clinical Excellence." Al-Refaie outlined how surgical innovations can be transformed into tangible therapeutic applications that improve patient outcomes, emphasizing technology transfer pathways and the clinical evidence required for adoption.
The statement added that Dr. Zaid Al-Marzouk, also a recipient of the Jabir Al-Ahmad Young Researcher Award and an interventional cardiologist serving as Director of Structural Heart at a Boston medical center, participated in a session on "Implementing Precision Medicine Technologies within Clinical Workflows." He led a discussion on integrating AI tools, cloud platforms and genomic analytics into daily medical practice, highlighting team training requirements and sustainability of precision medicine applications in hospitals.
KFAS highlighted prominent contributions from Kuwaiti specialists engaged through the KFAS-NASEM collaboration, including Dr. Sulaiman Al-Muzaidi, Chair of Surgery at Jaber Al-Ahmad Hospital, and Senior Consultant General Surgeon Dr. Hamoud Al-Rashidi, who presented on Kuwait's pioneering experience in remote robotic surgery. The procedure was recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's longest remote surgery-an international milestone reflecting the qualitative advancement of Kuwait's health system, with support from KFAS.
Program activities included keynote talks on cross-border data sharing, regulatory environments and human capacity building in precision medicine. Discussions concluded with practical recommendations to boost international partnerships and accelerate the translation of scientific discoveries into direct clinical impact, with Kuwaiti contributions underscoring KFAS's role in advancing science diplomacy and supporting Kuwait's investment in precision medicine in line with its strategic objectives. (end) oys.seo