King Saud University in Saudi Arabia is shining the spotlight on its Biomarkers Research Program (BRP) in an article on the university's homepage. Founded in 1987, the BRP "has become the breeding ground of KSU's top biochemistry post-graduate students in the Kingdom's official laboratory for major epidemiologic surveys, a laboratory that has published more than 200 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and participated in more than 50 international scientific conferences."
"It was difficult to get the public's attention to biomarkers in 1992, but with BRP's national and international reputation, collaboration with a variety of Saudi universities and ministries, and aggressive public outreach programs, 'biomarkers' has become a common term that has made a significant impact on Saudi society's awareness of the causes and treatment of chronic diseases," the article says.
The program has received some media attention for a study on breast cancer biomarkers in 2009 and in 2010 for a study on parent-offspring transmission of metabolic traits. The program currently has 12 research projects, involving a wide range of subjects including obesity, cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, liver disease, diet and air pollution.
- read more about KSU's biomarkers program