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Saygılı Eİ, Abou-Zeid AH, Akkın SM, Aklillu E, Barlas İÖ, Borda-Rodriguez A, Boschele FA, Çetin Z, Coşkun E, Coşkun Y, Dağlı G, Dai TU, Dandara C, Dereli T, Elbeyli L, Endrenyi L, Eyigün CP, Georgakilas A, Günbulut B, Güngör K, Güzelbey A, Hekim C, Huzair F, Kimyon S, Karakaş Ü, Lin B, LLerena A, Masimirembwa C, McNally R, Mete A, Sancar P, Srivastava S, Steuten LM, Tanrıöver O, Tyfield D, Töre Vİ, Vuruşkan D, Wang W, Warnich L, Wonkam A, Yıldırım YZ, Yılmaz İ, Sınav A, Hekim N. An Open Letter in Support of Transformative Biotechnology and Social Innovation: SANKO University Innovation Summit in Medicine and Integrative Biology, Gaziantep, Turkey, May 5-7, 2016. OMICS 2016; 20:259-62. [PMID: 27093110 DOI: 10.1089/omi.2016.0038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Eyüp İlker Saygılı
- 1 Faculty of Medicine and Office of the President, SANKO University , Gaziantep, Turkey
| | | | - Salih Murat Akkın
- 1 Faculty of Medicine and Office of the President, SANKO University , Gaziantep, Turkey
| | - Eleni Aklillu
- 3 Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet , Solna, Sweden
| | - İbrahim Ömer Barlas
- 4 Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Mersin University , Mersin, Turkey
| | - Alexander Borda-Rodriguez
- 5 Development Policy and Practice Group, The Open University , Milton Keynes, United Kingdom .,6 Secretaria Nacional de Educacion Superior , Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion, Quito, Ecuador
| | | | - Zafer Çetin
- 1 Faculty of Medicine and Office of the President, SANKO University , Gaziantep, Turkey
| | - Enes Coşkun
- 8 Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King's College London , London, United Kingdom .,9 Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Engineering, Gaziantep University , Gaziantep, Turkey
| | - Yavuz Coşkun
- 9 Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Engineering, Gaziantep University , Gaziantep, Turkey .,10 Office of the President, Faculty of Engineering, Gaziantep University , Gaziantep, Turkey
| | - Güner Dağlı
- 1 Faculty of Medicine and Office of the President, SANKO University , Gaziantep, Turkey
| | - Türkan Uğur Dai
- 7 Faculty of Communications, Marmara University , Istanbul, Turkey
| | - Collet Dandara
- 11 Division of Human Genetics, Department of Pathology & Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town , South Africa
| | - Türkay Dereli
- 12 Office of the President and Technology Transfer Office, İskenderun Technical University (İSTE) , İskenderun, Turkey .,13 Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Gaziantep University , Gaziantep, Turkey
| | - Levent Elbeyli
- 9 Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Engineering, Gaziantep University , Gaziantep, Turkey
| | - Laszlo Endrenyi
- 14 Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto , Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Can Polat Eyigün
- 1 Faculty of Medicine and Office of the President, SANKO University , Gaziantep, Turkey
| | | | - Bircan Günbulut
- 1 Faculty of Medicine and Office of the President, SANKO University , Gaziantep, Turkey
| | - Kıvanç Güngör
- 9 Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Engineering, Gaziantep University , Gaziantep, Turkey
| | | | - Can Hekim
- 17 Independent Scholars, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Farah Huzair
- 18 School of Social and Political Sciences, The University of Edinburgh , Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Sabit Kimyon
- 9 Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Engineering, Gaziantep University , Gaziantep, Turkey
| | - Ümit Karakaş
- 4 Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Biology and Genetics, Mersin University , Mersin, Turkey
| | - Biaoyang Lin
- 19 University of Washington , Seattle, Washington, USA.,20 Systems Biology Division, Zhejiang-California International Nanosystems Institute (ZCNI) of Zhejiang University , Hangzhou, China
| | - Adrián LLerena
- 21 Clinical Research Center, Extremadura University Hospital and Medical School , Hospital Infanta Cristina Av de Elvas s/n, Badajoz, Spain
| | | | - Ruth McNally
- 23 Anglia Ruskin University , Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Alper Mete
- 9 Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Engineering, Gaziantep University , Gaziantep, Turkey
| | | | - Sanjeeva Srivastava
- 25 Proteomics Laboratory, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay , Powai, Mumbai, India
| | - Lotte M Steuten
- 26 PANAXEA bv, University of Twente , Enschede, The Netherlands .,27 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Hutchinson Institute for Cancer Outcomes Research and School of Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program, University of Washington , Seattle, Washington, USA
| | - Oylum Tanrıöver
- 7 Faculty of Communications, Marmara University , Istanbul, Turkey
| | - David Tyfield
- 28 Centre for Mobilities Research (CeMoRe), Lancaster University , Lancaster, United Kingdom .,29 International Research & Innovation Centre for the Environment (I-RICE) , Guangzhou, China
| | - Volkan İhsan Töre
- 1 Faculty of Medicine and Office of the President, SANKO University , Gaziantep, Turkey
| | - Deniz Vuruşkan
- 30 Gaziantep University Technopark and the Department of Textile Engineering , Faculty of Engineering, Gaziantep University , Gaziantep, Turkey
| | - Wei Wang
- 31 Global Health Genomics, School of Medical Sciences and Health, Edith Cowan University , Perth, Australia .,32 Beijing Municipal Key laboratory of Clinical Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Capital Medical University , Beijing, China
| | - Louise Warnich
- 33 Faculty of Science, Stellenbosch University , Stellenbosch, South Africa
| | - Ambroise Wonkam
- 11 Division of Human Genetics, Department of Pathology & Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town , South Africa
| | - Yusuf Ziya Yıldırım
- 1 Faculty of Medicine and Office of the President, SANKO University , Gaziantep, Turkey
| | - İsmet Yılmaz
- 34 Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Chemistry, İnönü University , Malatya, Turkey
| | - Ahmet Sınav
- 1 Faculty of Medicine and Office of the President, SANKO University , Gaziantep, Turkey
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Ahmed AA, Mohamed AA, Guled IA, Elamin HM, Abou-Zeid AH. Knowledge translation in Africa for 21st century integrative biology: the "know-do gap" in family planning with contraceptive use among Somali women. OMICS 2014; 18:696-704. [PMID: 25333614 DOI: 10.1089/omi.2014.0080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
An emerging dimension of 21(st) century integrative biology is knowledge translation in global health. The maternal mortality rate in Somalia is amongst the highest in the world. We set out to study the "know-do" gap in family planning measures in Somalia, with a view to inform future interventions for knowledge integration between theory and practice. We interviewed 360 Somali females of reproductive age and compared university-educated females to women with less or no education, using structured interviews, with a validated questionnaire. The mean age of marriage was 18 years, with 4.5 pregnancies per marriage. The mean for the desired family size was 9.3 and 10.5 children for the university-educated group and the less-educated group, respectively. Importantly, nearly 90% of the university-educated group knew about family planning, compared to 45.6% of the less-educated group. All of the less-educated group indicated that they would never use contraceptives, as compared to 43.5% of the university-educated group. Prevalence of contraceptive use among ever-married women was 4.3%. In the less-educated group, 80.6% indicated that they would not recommend contraceptives to other women as compared to 66.0% of the university-educated group. There is a huge gap between knowledge and practice regarding family planning in Somalia. The attendant reasons for this gap, such as level of education, expressed personal religious beliefs and others, are examined here. For primary health care to gain traction in Africa, we need to address the existing "know-do" gaps that are endemic and adversely impacting on global health. This is the first independent research study examining the knowledge gaps for family planning in Somalia in the last 20 years, with a view to understanding knowledge integration in a global world. The results shall guide policy makers, donors, and implementers to develop a sound family planning policy and program to improve maternal and child health in 21(st) century primary healthcare.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmed A Ahmed
- 1 United Arab of Emirates Red Crescent , Mogadishu, Somalia
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Hekim N, Coşkun Y, Sınav A, Abou-Zeid AH, Ağırbaşlı M, Akintola SO, Aynacıoğlu Ş, Bayram M, Bragazzi NL, Dandara C, Dereli T, Dove ES, Elbeyli L, Endrenyi L, Erciyas K, Faris J, Ferguson LR, Göğüş F, Güngör K, Gürsoy M, Gürsoy UK, Karaömerlioğlu MA, Kickbusch I, Kılıç T, Kılınç M, Kocagöz T, Lin B, LLerena A, Manolopoulos VG, Nair B, Özkan B, Pang T, Sardaş Ş, Srivastava S, Toraman C, Üstün K, Warnich L, Wonkam A, Yakıcıer MC, Yaşar Ü, Özdemir V. Translating biotechnology to knowledge-based innovation, peace, and development? Deploy a Science Peace Corps--an open letter to world leaders. OMICS 2014; 18:415-20. [PMID: 24955641 DOI: 10.1089/omi.2014.0079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Scholarship knows no geographical boundaries. This science diplomacy and biotechnology journalism article introduces an original concept and policy petition to innovate the global translational science, a Science Peace Corps. Service at the new Corps could entail volunteer work for a minimum of 6 weeks, and up to a maximum of 2 years, for translational research in any region of the world to build capacity manifestly for development and peace, instead of the narrow bench-to-bedside model of life science translation. Topics for translational research are envisioned to include all fields of life sciences and medicine, as long as they are linked to potential or concrete endpoints in development, foreign policy, conflict management, post-crisis capacity building, and/or peace scholarship domains. As a new instrument in the global science and technology governance toolbox, a Science Peace Corps could work effectively, for example, towards elucidating the emerging concept of "one health"--encompassing human, environmental, plant, microbial, ecosystem, and planet health--thus serving as an innovative crosscutting pillar of 21(st) century integrative biology. An interdisciplinary program of this caliber for development would link 21(st) century life sciences to foreign policy and peace, in ways that can benefit many nations despite their ideological differences. We note that a Science Peace Corps is timely. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations released the Fifth Assessment Report on March 31, 2014. Worrisomely, the report underscores that no person or nation will remain untouched by the climate change, highlighting the shared pressing life sciences challenges for global society. To this end, we recall that President John F. Kennedy advocated for volunteer work that has enduring, transgenerational, and global impacts. This culminated in establishment of the Peace Corps in 1961. Earlier, President Abraham Lincoln aptly observed, "nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." We therefore petition President Barack Obama, other world leaders, and international development agencies in positions of power around the globe, to consider deploying a Science Peace Corps to cultivate the essential (and presently missing) ties among life sciences, foreign policy, development, and peace agendas. A Science Peace Corps requires support by a credible and independent intergovernmental organization or development agency for funding, and arbitration in the course of volunteer work when the global versus local (glocal) value-based priorities and human rights intersect in synergy or conflict. In all, Science Peace Corps is an invitation to a new pathway for competence in 21(st) century science that is locally productive and globally competitive. It can open up scientific institutions to broader considerations and broader inputs, and thus cultivate vital translational science in a world sorely in need of solidarity and sustainable responses to the challenges of 21(st) century science and society.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nezih Hekim
- 1 Office of the Dean, Faculty of Medicine, SANKO University , Gaziantep, Turkey
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