INTERVIEWS
Dr. Ziyad Mahfoud Professor of Research in Population Health Sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q)
“Our courses are designed to equip healthcare professionals in Qatar and beyond with core biostatistical research tools"
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r. Ziyad Mahfoud is a Professor of Research in Population Health Sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q). Dr. Mahfoud is an internationally recognized authority in the field of biostatistics and population health sciences, with special expertise in the design of complex studies including clinical trials, and in advanced data analyses.
An experienced researcher and educator, Dr. Mahfoud has a strong record of winning extramural funding and publishing studies in a variety of fields, including patterns of tobacco use, mental health, adolescent health and medical education. He has also created and taught undergraduate, graduate, and Continuing Professional Development courses, for which he has received high praise and numerous awards. Dr. Mahfoud holds a Ph.D. in Statistics (2001) from the University of Florida at Gainesville. He joined WCM-Q in 2010 from the American University in Beirut where he served as an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health. Dr. Mahfoud currently delivers several Continuing Professional Development courses on research methods designed to equip healthcare professionals in Qatar and beyond with core biostatistical research tools to enable them to design, execute and interpret the results of their own medical research studies. Dr. Mahfoud spoke with “Hospitals” mag-
JAN.FEB 2022
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OUR ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO ENABLE HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS TO ORGANIZE, MANAGE AND ANALYZE THEIR DATA, WHICH WILL HELP INCREASE THE RESEARCH OUTPUT IN QATAR AND BEYOND, ULTIMATELY HELPING TO IMPROVE PATIENT CARE AND POPULATION HEALTH.
azine about the success of these courses and how his work is helping Qatar leverage the expertise of healthcare professionals within the country to conduct high-quality research that benefits patients and contributes new scientific knowledge to the world of medicine. The training provided by Dr. Mahfoud and the Division of Continuing Professional Development makes a strong contribution to the mission of WCM-Q to provide excellence in teaching and patient care, as well as supporting Qatar’s aim to establish a thriving biomedical research sector in the country as part of the drive towards a knowledge-based economy.
What was the motivation for the Division of Continuing Professional Development at WCM-Q to create these research methods courses? As a biostatistician, I was inundated with requests for help from healthcare professionals. There is a shortage of biostatisticians in academia, not just in Qatar and the region, but also
