Sidra Medicine Opens MENA Microbiome Conference, Highlights Latest Research and Innovative Therapies
Sidra Medicine opened the second edition of the MENA Microbiome Conference 2026 in Doha today, bringing together leading researchers, physicians, scientists and specialists, alongside partners and sponsors, to discuss the latest scientific developments in the microbiome field and explore their potential use in advancing healthcare.
The conference was held under the theme "From Biomarkers Discovery to Microbiota-based Therapeutics." The first-day sessions focused on the microbiome’s role in women’s and children’s health, precision nutrition and innovative therapeutic approaches, while highlighting the potential of microbiome-related research to enhance disease prevention and develop treatments.
Women’s and infant health formed one of the first day’s main themes, with scientific discussions examining the microbiome’s impact on reproductive health, pregnancy outcomes and children’s early development.
Conference co-chairs Dr. Souhaila Al Khodor and Dr. Annalisa Terranegra presented research addressing the role of microbial genomics in maternal and child health and the importance of precision nutrition.
The sessions highlighted the influence of the maternal microbiome on the development of a child’s microbiome during the first 1,000 days of life, the role of the breast milk microbiome in infant health and the impact of pregnancy complications on early immune system–microbiome interactions.
The sessions also addressed the potential of precision nutrition to reduce pregnancy complications by influencing the gut microbiome and placental gene expression.
The conference co-chairs expressed pride in organizing and hosting the first conference of its kind in the Middle East dedicated to microbiome health.
Through the MENA Microbiome Conference 2026, Sidra Medicine continues to strengthen scientific collaboration and support research that could contribute to developing more personalized healthcare for women and children in Qatar and the region.
The conference also included discussions on the microbiome’s role in women’s reproductive health, the effect of hormonal changes on microbial communities and their potential association with certain reproductive-health disorders.
In children’s health, the conference sessions addressed the latest developments in microbiome research, including the clinical applications of pediatric stool banks and the safety and infrastructure requirements needed to establish them.
Professor Mamoun Elawad of Sidra Medicine also discussed the role of nutrition and the gut microbiome in pediatric organ transplantation and their potential effects on treatment outcomes.
The first day of the MENA Microbiome Conference also saw the announcement of two new research initiatives aimed at strengthening research capabilities and expanding opportunities to develop innovative therapeutic solutions.
The QMicrobe initiative aims to establish Qatar’s first specialized bank of stool samples from pediatric donors to support microbiome-based therapeutic research.
The program is led by Dr. Souhaila Al Khodor, Director of the Reproductive and Perinatal Health Translational Research Program and Principal Investigator at Sidra Medicine, and Dr. Mamoun Elawad, Division Chief of Gastroenterology/Hepatology/Nutrition at Sidra Medicine. It involves collecting samples from carefully screened donors, alongside clinical assessments, advanced metagenomic sequencing and computational analysis, to identify microorganisms that may possess promising therapeutic properties.
The program is supported through a joint funding program between the Qatar Research, Development, and Innovation Council and the Ministry of Public Health. It aims to strengthen national microbiome-research capabilities, support the development of future therapies, establish standardized research protocols and create new opportunities for collaboration among healthcare institutions, academic organizations and the biotechnology sector.
Dr. Souhaila Al Khodor, Director of the Reproductive and Perinatal Health Translational Research Program and Principal Investigator at Sidra Medicine, said that establishing a collection of samples from carefully screened healthy pediatric donors would provide QMicrobe with a research resource that enables scientists to study microorganisms and their functions and explore their therapeutic potential.
Al Khodor added that the program could support future research into metabolic disorders, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, infections and certain neurodevelopmental disorders.
QMicrobe will be implemented in collaboration with Dr. Majdi Osman, a physician-scientist from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, who discussed the latest developments in fecal microbiota transplantation and emerging microbial therapeutics during his participation in the conference.
Osman reviewed current clinical applications and ongoing research, as well as the opportunities and challenges associated with developing microbiome-based therapies.
Microbial banks are a fundamental pillar in developing microbiome-based therapies and diagnostic tools.
Although children’s health remains an area that has not received sufficient research attention, it represents one of the most significant opportunities to create a positive, long-term impact on human health throughout life.
Qatar’s unique population diversity also makes it an ideal environment for establishing this project.
During its first phase, QMicrobe will focus on building research infrastructure and testing the project’s feasibility in preparation for supporting the development of microbiome-based therapies and conducting future clinical studies in Qatar. The program is also expected to provide local research data reflecting the country’s population diversity, supporting the development of health solutions suited to the community’s needs.
In the same context, the conference’s first day also highlighted a new Sidra Medicine research study exploring how the types of fat consumed by mothers during pregnancy affect a child’s brain development and their potential association with the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
The study is led by Dr. Annalisa Terranegra in collaboration with the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit, which is part of a Wellcome research program and affiliated with the University of Oxford. It is supported by a research grant awarded to Dr. Terranegra by The Waterloo Foundation in the United Kingdom.
Dr. Terranegra said neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism, represent an important public-health challenge in Qatar and that the country has given the field national attention through the Qatar Foundation Autism Strategy 2025–2035.
Terranegra added that the research project supports this strategy by focusing on prevention and early detection, rather than treatment alone, through the study of a modifiable factor: maternal nutrition during pregnancy.
The study will follow a cohort of mothers and their children to examine how fatty-acid consumption during pregnancy affects placental epigenetic changes, fatty-acid levels in umbilical-cord blood, the child’s neurodevelopment and the gut microbiome.
Assessments will be conducted at five stages: at birth and then at one month, six months, 12 months and 18 months.
The research team will then validate the findings using zebrafish models at Sidra Medicine’s research facilities by examining the effects of diets containing different types of fatty acids on the fish’s neurodevelopment during their early growth stages.
The study aims to develop precise dietary recommendations based on scientific evidence by identifying the types of fatty acids most closely associated with healthy neurodevelopment. This could enable personalized dietary guidance for pregnant women instead of general recommendations, while the findings may also help identify suitable fatty acids for developing nutritional supplements intended to reduce the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders.
As dietary patterns in Gulf countries shift toward high-fat diets influenced by Western dietary patterns, the study’s findings are expected to be particularly significant for countries in the region, with potential benefits at the global level.
Source: QNA
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