Omani woman scientist wins UNESCO fellowship

From BBC News: Omani woman scientist wins UNESCO fellowship

Rayhanah Abdul Munim Mohammad al Mjeni, a biomedical scientist in the genetics department of the College of Medicine & Health Sciences at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), has won the UNESCO-L’Oréal Pan Arab Regional Fellowship for Young Women in Life Sciences.

The fellowships programme was instituted to accentuate scientific excellence and encourage women to choose science as a career.

The fellowship is aimed at celebrating the achievements of the region’s women scientists and empowering them. The programme extends to 17 Arab countries, stated a press release.

At the award ceremony, Rayhanah said that she hopes this achievement would inspire more women in Oman to take up science and contribute to the advancement in their respective fields. Rayhanah is the first Omani scientist to win this fellowship.

Rayhanah, who is also pursuing a PhD at SQU, is currently studying the genetics of glaucoma in adults. Glaucoma affects the optic nerve and is usually undetected until more than 40 per cent of the peripheral vision is impaired eventually leading to irreversible blindness.

It has a prevalence of about five per cent in individuals aged 30 years and above within the Omani population.

According to Rayhanah, the genetic knowledge of this disease in Oman will allow for better diagnosis and prognosis of the disorder. “Hopefully the study will provide fundamental Omani glaucoma genetic knowledge by examining the candidate's gene,” she said.

Rayhanah obtained her BSc and MSc in Human Genetics at the University of Leeds, UK and has participated in genetics projects related to leukaemia and cancer and also published scientific articles on these subjects in different conferences.

The award ceremony was held in Lebanon under the patronage of the Lebanese Minister of Education and Higher Education in collaboration with the Lebanese National Commission of UNESCO