Results of International Cooperation Initiative announced by the Vice-Rector’s Office for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research

The Vice-Rector’s Office for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research is pleased to announce the results of research proposals presented by MU to the International Cooperation Initiative organized by the Office of Research and Development at the Ministry of Education. it is one of the national initiatives launched by the Ministry of Education in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
The title of the research proposal, submitted to research ability track, is “Molecular ecology of mycotoxin producing fungi in dates: approaches to understand the role of climate change in mycotoxin contamination”. The research was written by Dr. Mohammed Al-Aydarous and his research team members: Dr. Ahmed Abdelhadi and Dr. Saeed Banwas and in collaboration with Dr. Salman Al-Amri from King Saud University and Dr. Angel Medina from Canfield University, UK.
The research aims to examine fungi and potential fungal toxins in dates and to determine the effect of climate-related stress (temperature, water activity and carbon dioxide level) on toxins gene expression. It also proposes a mathematical modeling to predict the impact of climate change in Saudi Arabia on fungal contamination of dates and their toxins.
The Vice-Rector for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research extended congratulated the research team this achievement and encouraged them to exert further efforts to make the university distinctive in the field of research, highlighting at the same time the importance of research being regard as the third job after teaching community service.
The vice-rector also made a reference to the support that scientific research gets from the government in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.