The Bahrain Ministry of Health has launched an advanced clinical training program on the return of genomic results, in collaboration with the International Centre for Genetic Diseases (iCGD) at Harvard Medical School.
The clinical training program involves the participation of various medical specialties and healthcare institutions across the Kingdom of Bahrain, aiming to build national medical capacities and equip them with the latest information and global best practices in support of the National Genome Project.
Dr. Jaleela bint Al Sayed Jawad Hassan, Minister of Health noted that the clinical training program is aligned with the goals of the Kingdom’s comprehensive development process, led by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and the directives of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister. Dr. Jaleela emphasized Bahrain’s commitment to strengthening the healthcare sector and improving service quality by continuing to develop diagnostic and therapeutic services in precision medicine and genomics.
Dr. Jaleela emphasized the importance of specialized training in the return of genomic results and its impact on enhancing the skills of the national health workforce, enabling the effective use of genomic medicine to improve healthcare outcomes.
Professor Alireza Haghighi, Chief Executive and Founding Director of the iCGD at Harvard Medical School and the Principal Investigator (PI) and Director of the National Genome Project of Bahrain, highlighted the importance of the collaboration. He noted that returning genomic results is a central component of genomic medicine and expressed pride in partnering with the Ministry of Health to deliver specialized training for physicians in this field.
The training program brought together professionals from various healthcare specialties in Bahrain and included a series of scientific sessions delivered by international experts in genomics. Key topics included the fundamentals of genetic testing and its integration into healthcare.
The National Genome Project was launched in 2019 in two phases: it first focused on sample collection, while the second involved the analysis and study of genetic mutations in the Bahraini population, linking them to phenotypic traits and producing clinical genomic reports.
To support capacity building, a national delegation from the National Genome Centre was sent to Harvard University in the United States to benefit from global expertise. The Bahraini team received specialized training in advanced genomic sequencing, biological data classification, clinical analysis, scientific data interpretation, and genomic data management.
