FROM GENE EXPRESSION ANALYSIS OF OMANI BREAST TUMORS
TO BIOMARKERS/CANDIDATE GENE DISCOVERY
Dr. Allal Ouhtit
College of Medicine & Health sciences
Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in females in Oman with particular
tendency to affect younger ages. Metastasis, the most threatening aspect of cancer, is
the primary cause of treatment failure and cancer-related deaths in Oman. Key to
increasing a patient’s quality of life and chance for long-term survival is developing
improved early detection methods and cancer therapies. As a crucial first step, we seek
an understanding of the unique disease processes associated with metastasis. Our
research has been focused on understanding the mechanisms by which cell adhesion
molecules (CAMs) initiate metastasis, particularly the CD146 receptor known as
promoter of invasiveness of various tumors. Strikingly, data from our own work indicate
that CD146 acts as a suppressor of BC metastasis. The idea is to take advantage of this
unique and unusual suppressive feature of CD146 and determine its underlying
mechanisms, using microarray analysis to identify its downstream transcriptional target
genes. Further, we designed a multidisciplinary platform of approaches associated with
drug discovery pipeline targeting Omani BC patients to validate these genes as
biomarkers or targets for therapy. More interestingly, wide gene expression analysis of
BC in Oman will identify unique/specific target genes that will be validated through the
same pipeline established for CD146 target genes.
Oman will benefit from the establishment: 1) for the first time in Oman, of a pipeline for
drug discovery; 2) of set of biomarkers and targets unique to Omani BC patients for early
detection and therapy, respectively; 3) multidisciplinary facilities/approaches for drug
discovery; 4) internationally competitive basic/translational research; training of students,
fellows and clinicians; 5) the development of novel diagnostic/prognostic tests for clinical
services; and 6) scientific patents and publications of discoveries.
Economical, social and environmental impacts of marine biofouling in the
Sultanate of Oman
Dr. Sergey Dobretsov
College of Agricultural & Marine Sciences
Marine biofouling (which is an undesirable growth of micro- and macro-organisms on
man-made surfaces) causes enormous problems in the maintenance of ships, boats,
fishing nets, cages and desalination plants worldwide. Countries worldwide are spending
more than US$5 billion per year to fight biofouling using toxic compounds that kill nontarget organisms and accumulate in the marine environment. Biofouling is causing
serious impact on all industries in the Sultanate: biofouling is responsible for clogging
pipes and membranes of desalination plants and steam-injection plants in oil industry,
decreasing speed and increasing corrosion and fuel consumption in vessels, damaging
fishing nets and cages and decreasing their fishing efficiency. In comparison to other
regions, there is no effective strategy to deal with biofouling and its economic and
environmental impact in Oman waters. We hypothesized that antifouling defence can be
significantly improved by utilization of low cost and low environmental impact methods
effective against biofouling organisms from Oman waters. In the proposed project we are
going to: investigate economic and social impact of biofouling; analyze current
antifouling methods and their environmental consequences; identify biofouling species
causing major industrial problems; propose best practices to reduce the costs and
environmental impact associated with antifouling protection in the Sultanate of Oman.
The results of this investigation will result in an economy of resources spent for
antifouling defence, reduce environmental risks and increase in efficiency of man-made
installations (desalination plants, steam plants, cooling pipes, boats, nets, cages, etc.)
working in the Sultanate and other Gulf countries.
Potential Sources Of Soil-Borne Plant Pathogenic Fungi Into Farms In
Oman
Dr. Albdullah Al-Sadi
College of Agricultural & Marine Sciences
Tomatoes and cucurbits, mainly watermelon, muskmelon and cucumber, are considered
the most important vegetable crops in Oman, occupying almost 20% of the area devoted
for vegetable production in the country. Although the demand for these vegetable crops
has increased over the last years, production has been constrained by increasing
disease problems. Fungal pathogens which survive in soil, also named soil borne
pathogens, represent the biotic factors most limiting profitable production in soil based
systems. Losses from some soil borne pathogens, e.g. Pythium spp. and Fusarium
spp., have been reported to exceed 90% of plants in some farms in Oman. Soil borne
fungal pathogens can attack seeds in the soil and kill them or attack emerging seedlings
and mature plants and result in wilt and subsequent death. This has resulted into an
excessive use of chemicals which results in hazards to humans and the environment.
Proper management of soil borne diseases of tomatoes and cucurbits in Oman has been
limited by two main factors. The first factor is related to continuous introduction of new
or more aggressive soil borne pathogens into Oman from abroad via unknown sources.
Investigations in the last years have indicated recent introductions of new pathogens into
Oman that previously did not occur in the country. Although over 100 different types of
potting mixtures and organic fertilizers are imported from abroad and used by growers,
little is known about their role in dissemination of fungal pathogens into Oman. In
addition, apart from efforts by quarantine officers in screening these samples, the lack of
appropriate, fast and reliable screening techniques for fungal contamination in potting
mixtures and organic fertilizers represents a challenge to successful detection of
contaminated products at borders.
The other problem is related to re-occurrence of soil-borne diseases in fallow soil or
cultivated soil following chemical treatment. Starting with new fields with no previous
history of cultivation (fallow soil) is a preferable choice for vegetable producers in
different parts of the world. Alternatively, growers replace the top layer of cultivated soil
with fallow soil imported from outside the farm or fumigate the cultivated soil to kill
microorganisms in it. Re-occurrence of soil-borne diseases in fallow soil and treated soil
raises questions concerning factors contributing to re-introduction of soil borne
pathogens into farms and subsequent increased levels of diseases in soil with no
previous history of cultivation. It is therefore not clear whether irrigation water, equipment
or any of the grower's practices could contribute to increased levels of diseases in their
farms.
The overall objective of the proposed study is to investigate the potential sources of
fungal pathogens into farms in Oman. Another objective is to help in development or
selection of proper screening tools or methods to be used by quarantine officers over the
long term for assessment of sources by which plant pathogens enter Oman. The
emphasis in this study will be on cucurbits and tomatoes, the top two vegetable crops in
terms of production in Oman. Knowledge of potential sources of fungi and the way by
which they circulate in farms should provide valuable information to underpin the
development of integrated disease management strategies which include prevention of
introduction of fungi into farms.
Quality of Teachers In Public Schools in The Sultanate Of Oman
Prof. Maher M. Abu Hilal
College of Education
Teachers, whether in Oman or any part of the world, no more teach for the local market.
Students don't only compete with their peers or fellow Omani students but with the
students from all over the world. The quality of teachers can't only judged by local
standards anymore. A representative sample of Omani teachers will be randomly
selected and their competencies, attitudes toward teaching and other attributes (e.g.,
self-efficacy, burnout, cognitive ability), related to teaching quality will be assessed.
Student evaluation of the sampled teachers will be conducted. Principals' and
supervisors' reports will be reviewed for the sampled teachers. Principals will be
interviewed and sampled teachers will be the topic of the interview. Demographic
variables such as the source of degree (SQU, Arab institutes, foreign institutes, etc),
gender, major, region, level taught, experience, and age will be identified.
The data will be analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to identify which of
the variables best predict the quality of teachers. Quality is defined by the score obtained
from the test of basic skills and students' ratings of their teachers.