Arabian Business engaged in a dialogue with the young Saudi Hossam Zawawi (29 years), whose star shines recently is currently working in the Queensland Centre for Clinical Research, University of Queensland due to his innovative research projects in the protection of human health and the risk of bacterial resistance to antibiotics (Superbugs). Arabian Business met Saudi young man Hossam Zawawi, who is a scholarship from the National Guard Hospital in Riyadh, and will receive Ph.D. in a few months, thanks to his research and his project about Super Bug bacteria, which threaten millions of people around the world and considered the most serious threats to humanity because they resist all types of drugs antibiotics category.
Tell us about Rolex Award and your achievement which made you win?
Rolex Award is not a prize for achievements, but is dedicated to support upcoming projects. The project, which got the award, pours his work on two sides. The first is ready to develop of a device for rapid detection of bacteria, which determines the bacteria resistant to antibiotics quickly. This project will evolve to become a biotechnology company in the future.
And most likely the headquarters of this company will be in Saudi Arabia. We have developed several ways to detect these bacteria in short time and simple cost compared with what is currently available, it has succeeded in reducing the time needed to make detection of bacteria to reduce the time of culture of bacteria to take a valid samples for testing, which is a short time, thanks to a number of tests that we have developed.
The culture of bacteria take three to four days in large hospitals in different parts of the world, because of the reliance on outdated technologies devised by the premier such as Lewis Baster and Robert Koch, and did not developed markedly since then, and I develop and devise a new mechanism which is reduce diagnosis time from days to hours, its name is " Rapid Superbug " & it reveals the type of bacteria quickly to facilitate proper treatment in the early stages of infection, which increases the chances of healing with reducing the spread of disease.
What are the aspects of commercial investment for this application, and what about the funding and investors?
We are developing new solutions to combine technologies already exist to collect them together to achieve one goal in clinical testing, we actually are developing or activation of what we achieved of the scientific suitable technology, and I do not have an adequate idea for investors here or entities interested in financing solutions in biotechnology but I started through this visit, the search for the concerned authorities as well as seeking to include more hospitals to participate in the network that we work with in order to strengthen cooperation to monitor epidemics.
How this technology works, does it reveal the existence of antibiotic resistant bacteria or does it determine the type of the bacteria as well?
The technology has dual functions which reveal its existence and identify its type, we have at the moment a device named (Rapid superbug version1) and this reveals specifically about the type of bacteria, and to study the presence of these bacteria in the area and in order to conduct an epidemiological survey must know the type of hacks bacteria.
We are working on a device (Rapid Superbug version2), which manage to use it as a clinical tool, to tell us about the presence of bacteria in patient samples, such as blood and urine. This is what we intend to do in the future but at the moment, it is limited to do the research and studies to work on the monitoring and detection of these bacteria. We are also working to educate people about this. Our goal is to do public education of people in the region and around the world if we can educate them how to use antibiotics effectively.
What the problem of excessive use of antibiotic drugs, there are many people seeks hurry cure without a prescription?
According to antibiotics help to eliminate the bacteria, but people sometimes use it for the treatment of viral diseases or other minor illnesses. The discovery of antibiotics has contributed to the elimination of many diseases, which increase the human lifespan of about 20 years, but this is at stake because of the misuse of antibiotics that we need to educate the patient about side effects of using antibiotics without justification. And, for example , when British Prime Minister David Cameron was asked in July for the most serious threats to people, he answered " resistant bacteria " ,British Prime Minister David Cameron also called to take global action to address the risk of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, saying that Britain will play a leading role in the development of new antibiotics. Cameron said at the time that a world without antibiotics will bring medicine to the "dark ages" and that the usual surgeries and treatments of cancer and organ transplant operations would be impossible. Cameron said at the time, "This is a very serious risk. We are threatened by the return of medicine to the dark ages to see the diseases were treated and he no longer treat for it ".
Arabian Business: Where do you see yourself after 5 years and imagine how the evolution of your projects?
"God willing, I will have established a bio-technology company in Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with the Badir for Biotechnology incubator arm. I will use the Rolex global value of the ambitious projects for 2014, for the development of several simplified screening technique for detecting bacteria hacks.
- What supports the successful of development of treatments with using bio-technologies in the Gulf States?
pharmaceutical companies retreat from the development of new drugs has become , aithough the biotechnology companies innovative new treatments and the Gulf region should provides an integrated environment for the growth of this emerging sector, which will have a significant role in the near future, there must be an adventure and investments incubators. we are currently working with financiers such as venture funding incubator Baader, which holds the investment in the development of biotechnology.
Tell us about Rolex Award and your achievement which made you win?
Rolex Award is not a prize for achievements, but is dedicated to support upcoming projects. The project, which got the award, pours his work on two sides. The first is ready to develop of a device for rapid detection of bacteria, which determines the bacteria resistant to antibiotics quickly. This project will evolve to become a biotechnology company in the future.
And most likely the headquarters of this company will be in Saudi Arabia. We have developed several ways to detect these bacteria in short time and simple cost compared with what is currently available, it has succeeded in reducing the time needed to make detection of bacteria to reduce the time of culture of bacteria to take a valid samples for testing, which is a short time, thanks to a number of tests that we have developed.
The culture of bacteria take three to four days in large hospitals in different parts of the world, because of the reliance on outdated technologies devised by the premier such as Lewis Baster and Robert Koch, and did not developed markedly since then, and I develop and devise a new mechanism which is reduce diagnosis time from days to hours, its name is " Rapid Superbug " & it reveals the type of bacteria quickly to facilitate proper treatment in the early stages of infection, which increases the chances of healing with reducing the spread of disease.
What are the aspects of commercial investment for this application, and what about the funding and investors?
We are developing new solutions to combine technologies already exist to collect them together to achieve one goal in clinical testing, we actually are developing or activation of what we achieved of the scientific suitable technology, and I do not have an adequate idea for investors here or entities interested in financing solutions in biotechnology but I started through this visit, the search for the concerned authorities as well as seeking to include more hospitals to participate in the network that we work with in order to strengthen cooperation to monitor epidemics.
How this technology works, does it reveal the existence of antibiotic resistant bacteria or does it determine the type of the bacteria as well?
The technology has dual functions which reveal its existence and identify its type, we have at the moment a device named (Rapid superbug version1) and this reveals specifically about the type of bacteria, and to study the presence of these bacteria in the area and in order to conduct an epidemiological survey must know the type of hacks bacteria.
We are working on a device (Rapid Superbug version2), which manage to use it as a clinical tool, to tell us about the presence of bacteria in patient samples, such as blood and urine. This is what we intend to do in the future but at the moment, it is limited to do the research and studies to work on the monitoring and detection of these bacteria. We are also working to educate people about this. Our goal is to do public education of people in the region and around the world if we can educate them how to use antibiotics effectively.
What the problem of excessive use of antibiotic drugs, there are many people seeks hurry cure without a prescription?
According to antibiotics help to eliminate the bacteria, but people sometimes use it for the treatment of viral diseases or other minor illnesses. The discovery of antibiotics has contributed to the elimination of many diseases, which increase the human lifespan of about 20 years, but this is at stake because of the misuse of antibiotics that we need to educate the patient about side effects of using antibiotics without justification. And, for example , when British Prime Minister David Cameron was asked in July for the most serious threats to people, he answered " resistant bacteria " ,British Prime Minister David Cameron also called to take global action to address the risk of bacterial resistance to antibiotics, saying that Britain will play a leading role in the development of new antibiotics. Cameron said at the time that a world without antibiotics will bring medicine to the "dark ages" and that the usual surgeries and treatments of cancer and organ transplant operations would be impossible. Cameron said at the time, "This is a very serious risk. We are threatened by the return of medicine to the dark ages to see the diseases were treated and he no longer treat for it ".
Arabian Business: Where do you see yourself after 5 years and imagine how the evolution of your projects?
"God willing, I will have established a bio-technology company in Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with the Badir for Biotechnology incubator arm. I will use the Rolex global value of the ambitious projects for 2014, for the development of several simplified screening technique for detecting bacteria hacks.
- What supports the successful of development of treatments with using bio-technologies in the Gulf States?
pharmaceutical companies retreat from the development of new drugs has become , aithough the biotechnology companies innovative new treatments and the Gulf region should provides an integrated environment for the growth of this emerging sector, which will have a significant role in the near future, there must be an adventure and investments incubators. we are currently working with financiers such as venture funding incubator Baader, which holds the investment in the development of biotechnology.