Al-Omran, who is an associate professor and consultant vascular surgeon at KSU, is widely published in many respectable peer-reviewed journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, PNAS, JBC, Circulation and Nature Communication.

"This is an important initial step in implementing this innovative treatment for cardiovascular diseases. The treatment is still experimental and in the animal phase, so the next step is to move from the experimental phase to application on patients through more research processes that will take several years," Al-Omran told Arab News, underscoring the significance of this research.

Al-Omran explained the idea behind this research was conceived about seven years ago when he was in his general surgery training at University of Toronto working with breast cancer patients.

This question launched the research that Al-Omran and Verma undertook where they experimented on mice by removing the BRCA1 gene and administering Doxorubicin.

Al-Omran, who is focused on risk reduction and prevention of cardiovascular diseases despite being a surgeon, added: "Cardiovascular diseases is the leading cause of death worldwide, and this research will pave the way for developing therapies that treat and prevent these diseases. This will also be potentially useful for prevalent conditions such as hypertension and diabetes among others."

When asked about the future of research in Saudi Arabia, Al-Omran lauded King Saud University for its strategic research programs such as the Research Chairs Program, International Twinning Program, and Attracting Outstanding Faculty and Researchers Program.

She added this patent is the embodiment of the university's vision of harnessing the benefits of international collaboration in research and education that will ultimately speed up information and technology exchange and the transfer of medical discoveries from the laboratory bench to patients' bedside.

"More than 50 percent of our postgraduate medical trainee and students abroad are already enrolled in formal research programs such as Master's and Ph.D, programs alongside their clinical training," said Al-Omran.

He said he intends to continue his research on the BRCA1 gene in order to move on from the experimental phase to the application of the therapy on patients after going through the necessary experiments and ethical approval.

Arab News 2012

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