The second International Conference on endorsing health science research was held in Karachi from 14 to 17 March 2014. The event was organized by AEIRC and sponsored by the Sports and Youth Affairs Department, Government of Sindh, while its media partners were the Technology times and Apna Karachi FM107,
The strategic partners included the International Journal of Endorsing Health Science Research.
The purpose of holding this international event was to endorse as well as promote the significance of health science research and explore ways and means to popularize it.
The inaugural session was delivered by Sadaf Ahmed, the CEO, AEIRC. She gave an overview of AEIRC, its aims, objectives and achievements. The basic outline of the conference was specified. The day began with a series of knowledge-filled moments. The keynote lectures began with the first lecture titled “Problems in Health Research” by Dr Shershah Syed from PMA.
Next discussed by Dr. Zafar Iqbal from Baqai Medical University was the “Advances and emerging opportunities in diabetes research”. Later, Prof. Dr. Sum-bul Shamim, the DCOP DUHS, delivered her lecture on “Pharmaceutical services and health outcomes research”. “Public health research; challenges and opportunities “was discussed by Dr. Zeba Imran from FUUAST. Dr Erum Zaheer from the University of Karachi talked on “Research on toxicology and chemical health hazards”.
“Neural electrodes and its application in biomedical engineering” was talked upon by Dr. Zia Mohyud Din from the Sir Syed University, while Dr. Amna Tariq from the Kings College, London, discussed “Mental Health a real matter to worry”.
Sadaf Ahmed from AEIRC, talked about “Pain, a health burden. A research ambiguity”, while next Mehwish Hussain from DUHS talked upon “The role of statistician in health research”, and Dr. Syed A. Aziz from the University of Ottawa, Canada, talked on “Epigenetic processes in health, disease and research”.
On the occasion, poster presentations of research work were also displayed. The panelists for the session were Dr. Asma Makhani from Tuft University, US, Dr. Zafar Iqbal, Dr Erum Zaheer and Dr. Zia Mohyud Din. Best poster and oral presentation prizes were also awarded. Laeeq Ahmed, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs, Sindh, discussed about the importance of research in youth while Muhammad Khalid Khan, Deputy Secretary, Sports and Youth Affairs, Sindh acknowledged the AEIRC team for the arrangement of international conference for youth. Muhammad Hussain Yousufzai, Section Officer, Sports/Assistant Director YAD also attended the sessions.
The session concluded with Sadaf Ahmeds vote of thanks to all the participants, guest of honor, speakers, panelists, organizing committee, ambassadors, volunteers and the sponsors for their kind contributions in making the Souvenir of Appreciation for the Department of Youth Affairs, Sindh, event a success.
Dr. Zafar Iqbal from BIDE highlighted the importance of diabetes during the workshop for the sake of proper management of the progression of diabetes. The main aim was to educate the minds regarding the concepts that encompass diabetes and to eradicate the misconceptions that are common regarding the use of medications being enough for the cure and control. It was made sure that the participants left better equipped with knowledge of moderation of lifestyle for a diabetes patient.
For the Methods in Clinical Research Shamoon Noushad from the AEIRC and Sadaf Ahmed from AEIRC were the facilitators. They said that indulging in clinical research requires the basic knowledge of norms and ethics that are mandatory when dealing with the cure and treatment of diseases. Since it requires awareness of the rights of human subjects involved, it is mandatory to be aware of the Clinical Research guidelines that revolve around the human rights and risk management techniques. Legal and ethical clinical practice is the core aim when indulging into research because the outcome is to be beneficial to the society in general.
The aims and objectives of ethically correct methods were also discussed and knowledge was provided as to the questions that arise regarding the norms of clinical research practice.
Mehwish Hussain from DUHS said that this workshop was aimed at providing guidance regarding the skills that should be enhanced when working with EndNote v.14.0 a soft, a software that deals with the references that are obtained during literature review. The most important thing was the knowledge of manual addition of data into the software and citations made easy with a single click. Other related aspects of the software were also discussed and general discussion about referencing was an essential part of the workshop, keeping in light the importance of the software.
Saima Khan from the AKU and Syed Zain Azher from AEIRC spoke in detail about plagiarism. They said that in simple words plagiarism is the copy and paste technique to make someone elses work look like your own. Plagiarism is ethically wrong and unacceptable in any circumstances. The core discussion and teachings of the workshop included techniques of paraphrasing techniques. The basics of paraphrasing were discussed keeping in mind that the basic idea of the reference mentioned remains intact. Exploring ways that could bring forth good quality paraphrasing and avoiding plagiarism in any case were the major part of workshop.
On the third day, Shamoon Noushad from AEIRC, spoke on Psychophysiology Research: An Emerging Prospect of Well Being.
She said this workshop was designed in order to make people abreast of what psychophysiology is and to emphasize the dire need of research in this field. Relatively complex aspects of the science of psychophysiology were delivered in a lucid manner keeping the audience gripped in the journey of learning things anew. Physiology and psychology were discussed as the dependent variables in relation with respect to generation of response by the human body to any circumstances. Psychophysiology revolves around both the pathway of hormone reaction and the response generated by the human body. The needs and scope of research in psychophysiology were both discussed as there is a need to augment research in this area, as it would lead to ways of exploring the human body and behavior in order to plan a better lifestyle and ward of various diseases that loom as a threat upon our society.
Selected scientific Oral Presentations session by participants of different Institutions:
The abstract book contains 69 Abstracts that were included in the Conference, presented by their respective authors in the form of oral and poster presentations. Both of the sessions were headed by the experts in the field, the sessions strengthen interactions among young researchers. Moreover, generate new ideas and set directions for the implementations of the same. It has always been a motto of the team of the AEIRC to provide first hand association for the promotion of scientific research, thus nurturing a better understanding of scientific education, social aspects and technology. The mission of the team AEIRC is to build a platform where researchers from all over the world meet to discuss the developments, advancements and achievements of their discipline and present their work.
At the conclusion of the event, Muhammad Khalid Khan, Deputy Secretary, Sports and Youth Affairs, gave souvenirs as a token of appreciation for best oral/poster presentations and volunteer work.