Upon an application submitted by Assoc. Dr. Fatma Tuba EMINOĞLU, the School of Medicine and the Ankara University Rare Diseases Center (NADİR) have been awarded an “Independent Medical Education Grant” for research in the field of “Education in Multidisciplinary Gene Therapy”.
Responding to a call made by Global Medical Grants (GMG), which supports research and education programs into the improvement of patient follow-up and treatment, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fatma Tuba Eminoğlu, head of the Pediatric Metabolism Department of the School of Medicine of Ankara University, submitted an application on behalf of the Rare Diseases Research and Application Center (NADİR). In response to the application, an “Independent Medical Education Grant” was awarded amounting to US$50,000 for studies in the field of “Multidisciplinary Gene Therapy Education in Monogenic Diseases – Recombinant Adeno-Associated Virus (rAAV)”.
Efforts under way for the creation of a nationally and internationally recognized center
The Rare Diseases Research and Application Center in which the project is being carried out serves as a center where multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment approaches are devised, where graduate and doctorate programs are provided, and where R&D infrastructure and research services are offered. The Center continues its efforts to become a nationally and internationally recognized center for the diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases, and for the education of practitioners. The Center is dedicated to the provision of training to clinicians, pharmacists, geneticists and other healthcare professionals not just from the school of medicine, but also from other institutions in the country.
The proceeds of the award will be spent on the creation of a comprehensive education program.
The grant will be spent on the development of an unprecedented comprehensive training program in our country, to be offered to clinicians and other healthcare professionals working in the fields of monogenic diseases and gene therapies in our country. The incidence of autosomal recessive monogenic diseases in our country is quite high due to the high rate of consanguineous marriage (21 percent), meaning there will be great need for healthcare professionals specialized in rAAV therapies in Türkiye in the future. The training program is planned to be delivered face-to-face three times a year as part of the project. The objective is to dedicate 20 percent of the training program to primary gene therapies and 80 percent to recombinant AVV (recombinant adeno-associated virus, rAAV) therapy. The project will serve as a platform for clinicians trained in gene therapies and with experience in rAAV therapies for the sharing of knowledge with other clinicians and healthcare professionals with an interest in rAAV.
A social network will be created for employees who will take part in the project.
The intention is to identify diseases that can be treated with gene therapies, to raise awareness among clinicians and other health professionals working in this field, to determine the training needs in this field through scales to be applied before the training program, to incentivize education with a certification program, and to establish a social network of clinicians and other healthcare professionals with an interest in gene therapies.
We congratulate NADİR on its successful application for an education grant for our university, and wish them continued success.
On behalf of our university and faculty, we congratulate NADİR on its contributions to the diagnosis, follow-up and treatment of patients, and for its contributions to education in rare diseases, as its central focus. We believe this amazing grant will serve as a ray of hope for patients suffering from diseases requiring gene therapies, and wish them the Center every success in this regard.