Al-Qasemi Academy’s International Conference on “Climate Crisis and its Coping Strategies” continued its momentum on the fourth day (15/3/2023), featuring a diverse range of sessions. Among them, a highly anticipated workshop titled “Medicine Development in Light of the Climate Change Crisis” brought together esteemed academic researchers and industry practitioners. The workshop delved into crucial discussions on how to significantly contribute to the advancement of medicine development, enhance their efficacy, and mitigate toxicity and side effects in the face of the climate change crisis. Here are some noteworthy interventions that unfolded during the workshop:

1. Expanding Therapeutic Effects: Professor Anwar Rayan underscored the importance of harnessing artificial intelligence and smart design to expand the therapeutic effects of medicines.
2. Shifting the Paradigm: Professor Amiram Goldblum, a renowned researcher from the Department of Pharmacy at the Hebrew University and a member of the Higher Academic Council and Appointment Committee at Al-Qasemi Academy, discussed the significance of transitioning from the traditional notion of “one disease – one biological target – one drug” to the concept of “one disease – few biological targets – one drug.”
3. Targeting Obesity Effectively: Dr Shaima Al-Atawneh, a faculty member in the Department of Pharmacy at the Hebrew University, highlighted the effectiveness of dual-action treatments and computerized mechanisms to expedite access to treatment medicines for obesity-related issues.
4. Chemistry Library Selection: Professor Hanoch Senderowitz, a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at Bar-Ilan University, emphasized the importance of examination and selection of chemistry libraries.
5. Reinforcement Learning for Peptidomimetic Macrocycle Discovery and Optimization: Dr Amit Michaeli, the Scientific Director of Pepticom in Jerusalem, shared insights into the successful utilization of reinforcement learning in discovering and improving peptidomimetic drug candidates.
6. Cellular cross-talks for Cancer Treatment: Dr Mazid Falah, Director of the Research Institute at the Holy Family Hospital in Nazareth, shed light on the potential of cellular cross-talks as an effective tool/ a potential candidate for cancer treatment.
7. The Role of Entrepreneurship: Muhammad Abu Al-Nada, an Engineer and General Manager at the Innovation Center Basecamp in Kafr Qassem, emphasized the critical role of entrepreneurship in scientific research, facilitating the production of commercially applicable knowledge and research.

The workshop was attended by various other esteemed researchers in the field of medicine, including Professor Muhammad Zaidan, Dean of Science at Al-Qasemi Academy; Professor Abdallah Gharra, former Director of the Volcani Institute; Dr Ziyad Abdallah, a researcher from the German company Antitoxin; and Dr Nir Shahaf, a researcher in the Department of Plant Sciences at the Weizmann Institute. During the workshop, a special tribute was paid to Mr Ahmad Jabareen, the representative of the Ministry of Regional Cooperation, acknowledging the ministry’s significant contributions to the organization and support of this international conference.

It is important to highlight that workshops like these foster professional networks within and beyond academic settings, strengthening partnerships and enriching knowledge development on a global scale. Additionally, all lectures were streamed live on the Al-Qasemi Academy Facebook page, with instant Arabic translation provided for lectures delivered in English. The recordings of these lectures can be found on the conference’s webpage for those who missed the live sessions.