Genomics, Islamic Ethics and Public Engagement (GIEPE): Towards Bridging the Knowledge and Communication Gaps

It is inevitable that the Muslim public living in the Gulf region, together with public policymakers working in this region, will sooner or later face tough ethical questions to be addressed and difficult decisions to be made about complex issues related to genomic medicine and personalized healthcare. A number of countries in the Gulf region, led by Qatar and Saudi Arabia, have already initiated ambitious scientific ventures with the aim of joining the genomic revolution for ultimately better prevention, diagnosis, and treatment for their populations. 

Since 2003, enormous amounts of money and labor have been invested in these ventures, hoping they will positively impact these countries’ healthcare sectors. In their foreseeable engagement with genomics, the general Muslim public will be in need of accessible knowledge about genomics, as a field of scientific inquiry, and about Islamic ethics, as part of people's 'moral world' in the Gulf region, and how ethical positions concerning genomics are (to be) developed within the Islamic tradition. However, as this project argues, scholarly-informed and knowledge-based communication between the two fields of genomics and Islamic ethics on one hand and the general public in the Arab-Muslim world on the other hand is almost non-existent yet. 

In order to address this lacuna, the proposed project, "Genomics, Islamic Ethics and Public Engagement (GIEPE): Towards Bridging the Knowledge and Communication Gaps," presents a pioneer attempt to develop religiously- and culturally-sensitive approaches and perspectives for effective public engagement and for developing policies and regulations in this emerging field. 

As a long-term objective, the GIEPE project also aims at creating a fertile ground for a prospective Qatar-based world-class hub of experts and specialists interested in nurturing and promoting Public Understanding of Science (PUS) and Public Engagement with Science (PES), also in Arabic. The project’s research team will consist of high-profile experts in various fields, including Islamic ethics, genomics, international bioethics, medical social sciences, translation, and interdisciplinary and intercultural communication. 

Different methods and tools will be used throughout this research, such as creating databases of relevant literature, conducting research (e.g., papers and responses), holding meetings open to the public, and developing a distinct online forum dedicated to discussions and communications with the public about the project's content, activities, and outputs. 

The GIEPE project will also produce concrete deliverables, including reference work tentatively titled "Genomics and Islamic Ethics in Public," aiming to make genomics and Islamic ethics more accessible to the general public, a glossary explaining the main technical terms in genomics and Islamic ethics, and a document with concrete guidelines for public policy. The key deliverables of the project will be available in both Arabic and English to ensure accessibility to a wide audience. 

At the practical level, this project will serve Qatar and its national genome initiatives, particularly the Qatar Genome Project. Additionally, it will serve as a model for other countries in the region and beyond, fostering scientific projects with culturally-sensitive public engagement schemes. At the academic and scholarly level, the GIEPE project will bridge the knowledge gaps between experts in different disciplines—particularly genomics, Islamic ethics, bioethics, and social sciences—by involving them in interdisciplinary research ventures. This project will also help these experts reach out to the public by making their voices more attentive and responsive to the needs, concerns, expectations, and aspirations of common people. 

Dr. Khalid Fakhro: Principal Investigator (PI) 

Prof. Mohammed Ghaly: Lead Principal Investigator (Lead PI) 

Dr. Mashael Al-Shafai: Principal Investigator (PI) 

Dr. Ma'n Zawati: Principal Investigator (PI) 

Dr. Mehrunisha Suleman: Principal Investigator (PI) 

Dr. M. Qoronfleh: Principal Investigator (PI) 

Qatar University, Qatar 

Sidra Medicine, Qatar 

World Innovation Summit for Health Events, Qatar 

University of Oxford, United Kingdom 

McGill University, Canada