SHAMS Achievement Award ceremony

The Ceremony was attended by His Excellency Humaid Al Qattami, and His Excellency Mirza Al Sayegh, representing His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance and Industry of the United Arab Emirates and the Patron of the Award and others from the medical field.

The program started with an introduction of the ceremony by Dr. Youssef Abdul Razzaq followed by a speech by Mr. Mirza Al Sayegh who noted: "I am sure that the researchers have taken a serious and important assignment to do the medical research in the country passing through several logistical hurdles and efforts in completing the task. I am happy that they have completed their tasks with meaningful results and I wonder if these results are very potential and it can be transformed through a quantitative approach to further study and ultimately to healthcare. SHAMS has embarked upon a new phase with the establishment of multiple awards and the initiation of several programmes in the various branches of medical sciences that allows scientists and scientific institutions alike to compete with each other and offers them the opportunity to report on the most recent advances in their fields of interest."

Mr. Mirza Al Sayegh added: "I take this opportunity to extend my deepest gratitude to His Highness Sheikh Hamdan for his noble generosity and thank him for his continuous support. I also take this opportunity to recognize the contribution made by those who worked to promote and raise the profile of the UAE and assure them that we stand ready to continue to provide them with all the facilities they need in their pursuit of excellence and advancement in science & medicine."

Dr. Youssef Abdul Razzaq, Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Award had made a presentation about the researchers and their achievements and after that came the distribution of the shields for the researchers by HE Mr. Humaid Al Qattami. Mr. Abdullah Bin Sougat, Managing Director of the Award, said that Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences has become a prominent place in the support of scientific research, and it is the body that adopts the results of research in the United Arab Emirates. The ceremony has been followed by a dinner for all attendees.

SHAMS has been instituted to encourage scientific research and is one of the awards that will be listed under the category of awards in the United Arab Emirates that is given by Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum for scientific medical research.

The award is in the form of scholarships to help researchers complete their researches inside the country.

The scholarship was given to 10 researchers in the first course during 1999-2001.

Part of the goals of this award is to support medical researchers and to publish their works in medical magazines of the UAE. The award also aims to encourage more research by offering resources, basic facilities, required materials with encouragement and spiritual support.