The German Bosch Foundation Meeting with Officials of Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Sharif University of Technology

Prof. Dr. Thomas Andersson, Chairman of the International Organization for Knowledge Economy and Enterprise Development (IKED), Prof. Gunnar Norstedt, Professor at Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery at Karolinska Institute, Dr. Nekoofar, Director of International Relations, Accreditation and Ranking of TUMS, Dr. Mohammad Nejad, Dr. Oghabian, Dr. Farzadfar and Dr. Pasalar, the TUMS Faculty Members, Dr. Movaghar, Dean of International Affairs at Sharif University of Technology, Dr. Mehrbod, Manager at ICT Innovation Center, Dr. Rabiee, PhD. Professor at Department of Computer Engineering of Sharif University of Technology, Dr. Shamloo, Associate Professor at Mechanical Engineering Department of Sharif University of Technology and the TUMS International Relations Officers were the attendees of this meeting. Dr. Masoomian, International Relations Advisor and Dr. Khalaj, Faculty Member joined the meeting via Skype.

First Dr. Nekoofar, welcomed Dr. Thomas Andersson and Dr. Gunnar Norstedt and thanked everyone for attending the meeting. Explaining some of the current activities and projects held by TUMS, he clarified the main goals of this project to go on to define the roadmap. Then he asked Dr. Andersson to give a brief review of the last meeting discussing the proposed project.

Dr. Andersson giving a brief reminder of the last session, explained the proposal for creation of a cross-border research institute in the Middle East. He pointed out that as there are currently three critical issues in the Middle East which are water, renewable energy and health, the Bosch Foundation has observed the lack of required connection between the Middle East countries and is interested to initiate the collaboration involving at least three countries in this area (Iran, Oman and Qatar).

Dr. Gunnar Norstedt also explained the need of establishing a structure for cross-border collaboration within the Middle East on research related to prevention and personalized medicine. “We hope that with the creation of an Insitute-like organisation operating in parallel with university organizations, we can facilitate the research conduction and data exchange and contribute to the improvement of medical treatment and diagnostics”, he added. He also presented the roadmap and offered valuable suggestions regarding the funding aspects of this collaboration.

Furthermore, Dr. Mohammadnejad gave a presentation related to personalized medicine, cancer incidence and mortality in Iran and the advancement of treatments in this area. Dr. Mehrbod, Manager at ICT Innovation Center of Sharif University of Technology also provided details and explanations concerning the role of technology in the improvement of prevention, treatment procedure and the achievements gained regarding e-health in Iran so far.

Dr. Nekoofar expressed hope for the future of this collaboration between the TUMS and Sharif University of Technology, saying “considering these two universities affiliated to two different ministries, this is a good opportunity to unite, cooperate and share the achievements.” He indicated that: “we have some research centers at TUMS that can join the institute and help generating a more competitive research platform”. He also described the need of considering a more appropriate and practical title for the institute.

Dr. Movaghar appreciated the explanations of both universities regarding the achievements in prevention and treatment, and pointed out that coming to an agreement on the structure and details of this institute is the most important matter at the moment.

At the end of the session, the attendees were looking forward to establishing collaboration and decided to set meetings between Iranian partners to discuss the details of the cooperation for more practical steps in the future.

Reported By: M. Alaeddini