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Researcher Sara Hegy Ahmed was awarded for her study on sex hormone signalling, and how they can influence the regenerative capacity of intenstinal cells.
Egyptian scholar Sara Hegy Ahmed has been awarded the Rictzenhain Doctoral Prize in recognition for her achievements in cancer research in Germany.
The prize is given out every two years to researchers with exceptional dissertations in cancer research at the University of Heidelberg, or at a research institute in the town of Heidelberg.
Motivated by the loss of a young relative to cancer, Ahmed knuckled down to receive her bachelor’s degree in pharmacy and biological sciences at the German University in Cairo, before completing her graduate studies in cancer research at the University of Heidelberg.
During her PhD research at the German Cancer Research Center, Ahmed studied the way sex hormones signalling can influence the regenerative capacity of intenstinal cells. According to her research, stem cells of non-sex organs can be affected by sex hormones – drawing a link between high concentrations of sex hormones and the development of tumors in the digestive system.
Ahmed currently works as a Transformational Coach, helping others achieve their own life goals.
The Sudanese artist Mubarak Hemoudi, who is 77, works in the United States, but his paintings reflect his experiences in Sudan, including scenes of violence he witnessed in his youth and the daily suffering of residents, and especially women, of Sudan’s Darfur region.
Born in Sudan’s North Kordofan state in 1944, Hemoudi moved between the country’s southern and northern regions during his youth and now divides his time between the United States and Sudan. “I get inspired by images from Khartoum and come to America to paint,” he said.
Hemoudi recently displayed a series of his paintings in Northern Virginia in an exhibition titled “African Art and Tales from Sudan.”
Through 38 images of Darfuri women—some from the Baggara tribes in western Sudan, some from the Dinka tribes in the south and other groups—the exhibition takes visitors on a time journey to the past of Sudan’s rural regions.
Art as a Call for Freedom.
His art is influenced not only by the violence he witnessed during his youth and the tyranny of tribal leaders over peoples’ lives, but also by his experience of the patterns of daily life and interactions among the residents of Sudan’s various regions.
He explained that Sudanese art exists more in the natural environment than in urban areas such as Khartoum, which was influenced by imported European cubist and abstract art movements. All regions of Sudan are saturated with African art with an Arabic touch as a result of the first Arab immigration to Sudan’s western and northern regions, he said.
The Influence of Kushite Art
Hemoudi studied fine arts at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Khartoum, which was established in the mid-1940s, before moving to Germany twice to study textile printing and color science. These skills later helped him improve his paintings’ aesthetics and master the use of lines.
In most of his works, Hemoudi draws on elements of Kushite art, one of the most famous types of African design and calligraphy used in drawings and decorations in many African countries.
The history of Kushite art goes back to Kush, a rich African civilization that originated in northern Sudan near the border with Egypt, nearly 5,000 years ago.
Kushite art is an art that stands on its own, Hemoudi said. “It is the origin of the existing arts and styles. It is hard to find an analogue of it in any other region,” he said. Its styles, he added, are characterized by a mix of simplicity, sophistication, and complexity.
The plastic arts in Sudan are a very old practice, according to Issam Abdel-Hafeez, a professor at the College of Fine and Applied Arts at Sudan University of Science and Technology.
“It was affected by the local scenery-rich environment, as well as the presence of Arab and African culture in its regions, which was reflected in the diversity of artists’ use of tools, such as the presence of fifty-one written languages other than Arabic,” Abdel-Hafeez said in a telephone interview.
Ibrahim al Salatni has broken the Asian record for free diving, clocking a time of nine minutes and 13 seconds. The previous record of eight minutes and 45 seconds was held by a Chinese national.
Salatni’s record was set at a tournament organised in Egypt held under the umbrella of the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI).
Salatni’s success follows intensive training over five years and he now aims to be among the top ten free divers in the world.
Speaking to Muscat Daily, he said, “The event was held exclusively for me over two days on December 27 to 28 to break the previous record. I’m so happy to break the previous record. I dedicate this achievement to my country.
“It was not easy to set this record. Ever since I began free diving as a hobby in 2014, my aim was to achieve a record for Oman, and now I have achieved that goal. I am looking for even more.”
He also holds the national, Arab and continental records in static apnea – holding breath under water – of eight minutes and seven seconds, and the national and GCC record in dynamic apnea (dynamic with fins and dynamic without fins), diving 150m underwater in one breath.
Free diving is practised without the use of any breathing apparatus. “You dive holding your breath to save oxygen.”
His future plans include participating in the World Free Diving Championship that will be held in Bulgaria in 2022 where he aims for a podium finish.
