WCM-Q students launch groundbreaking student science magazine

Students at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) have launched the college’s very first student-led magazine.

The publication, named Mawj Science Magazine, was founded to provide a voice for the student body, to foster a spirit of enquiry and scientific interest among students, and to share news of groundbreaking innovation in biomedical science and education.

The inaugural edition of Mawj, which means “wave” in Arabic, features dozens of articles written by WCM-Q students on a wide range of topics, including the mental health of medical professionals, pediatric epilepsy, how technological advances are redefining medical education, the link between gut-brain health and autism, student research projects investigating the effectiveness of traditional remedies, and accounts of student contributions to medical conferences, among other stories. The magazine, which is published online, also features articles by WCM-Q faculty.

Second-year medical student Ubaida Al-Aani is the founder and editor-in-chief of Mawj. Student contributors who penned articles for the launch edition include Sama Ayoub, Noor Numan, Amani Benamor, Batoul Arabi, Sama Al-Saffar, and Nisarga Natesha Kumuda. Faculty member Christine Gaskell, senior teaching specialist in pre-medical education and a Ph.D. student, contributed an article on her research, which explores the biological nexus between obesity and cancer through lifestyle and microbiome pathways.

Dr. Javaid Sheikh, dean of WCM-Q, welcomed the launch of the magazine. “It is extremely gratifying to see our students taking the initiative to share their passion for science with one another through this excellent new student magazine," he said. "I have no doubt that Mawj will be a great success and will provide an extremely valuable platform for collaboration among our thriving community of student researchers, supporting their ambitions to pursue excellence in medicine by continuously advancing the boundaries of research in clinical care, biomedical research and medical education.”