In the attendance of His Excellency Prof. Hamid M.K. Al Naimiy, Chancellor of the University of Sharjah, His Excellency Ahmed Fikri, Acting Director General of Sandooq Al Watan, signed three research cooperation agreements with the University of Sharjah, signed for the University by Prof. Maamar Bettayeb, Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies. The agreements aim at encouraging cooperation in the management of intellectual property and support for research projects, including the winning projects in the national initiative presented by Sandooq Al Watan within the framework of the Applied Research and Development Program. The University of Sharjah was awarded two grands within this program to combat the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), including the process of developing a dual-action antiviral drug with the aim of combatting the COVID-19 pandemic.

The signing of the agreement was attended by Prof. Qutayba Hamid, Vice Chancellor for Medical Colleges and Health Sciences and Dean of College of Medicine; Prof. Raafat El-Awady, Dean of the College of Graduate Studies and Acting Dean of the College of Pharmacy; Dr. Chaouki Ghenai, Chairman of the Research Funding Department; as well as members of the research team, and researchers overseeing the two projects from the University including Dr. Sameh Soliman, Dr. Ahmed Almehdi, Prof. Rabih Halwani and Dr. Zainab AlShareef.

His Excellency Prof. Hamid M.K. Al Naimiy, Chancellor of the University of Sharjah, stated during the meeting that the University is one of the largest universities in the United Arab Emirates and has a strong infrastructure that serves scientific research in many fields, as it provides multidisciplinary academic programs and graduate programs that keep pace with technological developments in society. He added, it includes research centers and institutes that play a major role in refining scientific expertise using its research groups through which students and professors cooperate in many scientific fields that serve society. In addition to cooperation agreements and double certificates granted by the University in cooperation with international universities such as the University of Lübeck in Germany, which leads to enriching the experiences of researchers from professors and students.

For his part, His Excellency Ahmed Fikri, Acting Director General of Sandooq Al Watan, stated that Sandooq Al Watan launched a course focusing on COVID-19 research in the last session of the Applied Research and Development Program, where the focus was on research that supports the precautionary efforts and adds to the global research that looks to study the spreading virus and eliminate it. He added that they fully trust the efforts made by the University of Sharjah and its researchers in their endeavor to develop an innovative antiviral drug to combat COVID-19.

Prof. Maamar Bettayeb expressed his happiness that the University received two important grants from Sandooq Al Watan to support research related to the new discoveries of COVID-19, stressing that these two agreements will pave the way for more research cooperation in the near future and will result in important research that has a positive impact on the UAE society. He also pointed out that the University of Sharjah conducts advanced and sustainable research in health and medical sciences, science and engineering, humanities, and social sciences that enhances creativity and innovation in research, and offers scholarships in cooperation with many local and international institutions and bodies. He added that the University provides solutions to the problems facing society by meeting the social, cultural, and economic needs of the community.

The first project led by Dr. Sameh Soliman with Co-investigators including Dr. Ahmed Almehdi, Dr. Rania Hamdy and Dr. Mohamed Haider from the University's College of Pharmacy aims to design a dual-action antiviral drug against SARS-COV2 (COVID19) by coupling two major privileged scaffolds which will lead to blocking major enzymes required for viral infection. The developed compounds will be formulated in special pharmaceutical formula to disfavor the existence and transmission of the virus. The new proposed product will provide an excellent platform to overcome any drug resistance or evolved future viral outbreaks.

The second project was led by Prof. Rabih Halwani and members of his team consisting of Prof. Qutayba Hamid, Prof. Rifat Hammoudi and Dr. Zainab AlShareef from the College of Medicine at the University and titled "Finding the First Rapid Examination Method to Detect COVID-19." This project aims to develop a device that can detect the presence of COVID-19 in nasopharyngeal swab samples in record time, and the proposed biosensor relies on the use of "aptamer" technology, which has a high ability to sense the presence of the virus in vital samples. When the virus being searched is sensed, it produces a light reaction that can be measured with a portable receiver within a few minutes. The device can distinguish between the SARS 2002 virus and the new coronavirus COVID-19, and this device also can reprogram the input slides in the event of a new disease. This biosensor can be used in public spaces, such as hospitals or train stations.

Prof. Qutayba Hamid stressed the importance of supporting research projects by providing tools and devices that help researchers and their assistants in carrying out research. He also indicated that the University has reached an advanced scientific position thanks to the quality of research provided by scientists and researchers. The University winning two out of three grants in medical research was following an intense competition. He added that most of the University's research is applied research with positive results that contribute to the development and service of society, thus achieving one of the University's strategic goals.

Dr. Zainab AlShareef explained that the research team worked to repeat scientific experiments to reach the required results, and to develop the idea by conducting experiments on previous types of viruses and then applying them to the emerging virus. She also expressed her happiness with the participation of Emirati hands in research projects related to improving the screening process for Coronavirus and supporting the community.

The University of Sharjah works to promote the culture of scientific research and provides a diverse educational environment in various technological fields, which leads to the discovery and dissemination of knowledge. The University conducts research in all fields in cooperation with many local and international institutions and agencies, and it also provides solutions to problems facing society by fulfilling the social, cultural and economic needs of the community, and supporting projects that improve scientific knowledge and technical capabilities of the United Arab Emirates and the world.