Alfaisal Scholar Program in Research Excellence
Clinical Research Track
ASPiRE Overview
The Alfaisal Scholar Program in Research Excellence (ASPiRE) is an in-house sister program of the Summer Program for International Research Internship and Training (SPIRIT) that offers participants a unique and immersive experience in basic and clinical research. The ASPiRE program contributes to Alfaisal University College of Medicine's vision in preparing physicians who actively contribute to medical research. The ASPiRE 2021 program will accommodate a total of 100 participants in the basic and clinical research tracks.
Clinical Research Track
To build capacity in clinical research foundation among healthcare professionals, the International Office has designed a course in this track employing a multitude of resources, tools, and teaching strategies. This course will provide a solid foundation for clinical and patient-oriented research for the participants. The primary aim of this course is to help participants develop the skills and knowledge essential to conduct clinical research in a safe and effective manner.
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Program Director
Prof. Imad Tleyjeh
Consultant and Head of the Infectious Diseases Division at King Fahad Medical City
Prof. Imad Tleyjeh is a Consultant and Head of the Infectious Diseases Section at King Fahd Medical City in Riyadh. He is also a Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Alfaisal University and Adjunct Faculty with the Divisions of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Sciences, Rochester, USA.
Prof. Tleyjeh is a clinician-scientist who has written multiple book chapters and has around 120 peer-reviewed international publications in high-impact journals. He has delivered numerous clinical research training courses and mentored several successful junior researchers. He is a certified instructor for the Medical Education Research Certificate (MERC) of the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC). He is also a member of the guidelines writing committee for Infective Endocarditis, American Heart Association. Prof. Tleyjeh has received several national and international achievements awards.
Program Outline and Schedule
​The program is carefully designed to effectively cover all essential and practical aspects of performing clinical research including, but not limited to, hands-on workshops, journal clubs, pre and post-course assessments, poster presentation, and possible placements on clinical research projects. The clinical research course brings together expert faculty to deliver the sessions. By the end of the course, the participants will have had acquired all the essential concepts of clinical research. The course schedule is given below:
Pre and Post Course Self-Assessments
You will attempt pre-course and post-course self-assessment exams for the measurement of participant learning. Individual performance analysis reports of strengths and opportunities will be provided. The pre-course self-assessment exam will determine focus areas for teaching during the course, while the post-course self-assessment will enable us to analyze course effectiveness and participant learning. Data from the course and tutor evaluation surveys will be used to improve teaching practices and the overall learning experience.
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Journal Clubs
You will also work in groups to critically evaluate recent scientific articles in clinical research. Through the journal clubs, it is expected that participants will be able to understand scientific writing, develop their knowledge on the topic as well as improve their presentation and public speaking skills.
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Placement on Clinical Research Projects
Alfaisal medical students who graduate from this course successfully will have a priority to be placed in the Alfaisal Local Research Training and Internship Program (LRTIP) and Summer Program for International Research Internship and Training (SPIRIT).
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ASPiRE Poster Day
As part of the ASPiRE program, participants will design and present their research proposals during the ASPiRE Poster Day. Best poster presentations will be awarded during the event.
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Teaching Faculty
Prof. Imad Tleyjeh
Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology
Consultant, Infectious Diseases,
King Fahad Medical City
Prof. Imad Tleyjeh is a Consultant and Head of the Infectious Diseases Section at King Fahd Medical City in Riyadh. He is also a Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Alfaisal University and Adjunct Faculty with the Divisions of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Sciences, Rochester, USA.
Prof. Tleyjeh is a clinician-scientist who has written multiple book chapters and has around 120 peer-reviewed international publications in high-impact journals. He has delivered numerous clinical research training courses and mentored several successful junior researchers. He is a certified instructor for the Medical Education Research Certificate (MERC) of the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC). He is also a member of the guidelines writing committee for Infective Endocarditis, American Heart Association. Prof. Tleyjeh has received several national and international achievements awards.
Prof. Tarek Kashour
Professor, Cardiac Sciences
King Fahad Cardiac Center
King Saud University
Prof. Tarek Kashour is a proficient researcher in the field of Interventional Cardiology. He is a Professor of Cardiac Sciences at King Saud University.
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Prof. Kashour has published more than 110 articles in peer reviewed journals. He enjoys teaching and mentoring students in scientific research.
Dr. Noara AlHusseini
Program Director, Master Degree in Public Health
Assistant Professor, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology
College of Medicine, Alfaisal University
Dr. Noara Alhusseini has completed her Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) in Health Policy and Leadership from Loma Linda University, California, United States of America. She has a Master’s degree in Leadership of Health Care Organizations from University of California San Diego (UCSD). Her undergraduate degree was in Community Health, Clinical Nutrition from King Saud University. She worked at several Saudi hospitals and practiced Clinical Nutrition. After that, she moved to the United States and worked in the International Health Sciences at UCSD, Starlight Children’s Foundation, and Loma Linda University.
She is currently the program director of the Master of Public Health Program and an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the College of Medicine at Alfaisal University in Riyadh. She is highly interested in research and has published numerous articles related to public health in reputed peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Noara Alhusseini also supervises graduate and undergraduate medical students in research projects related to community and public health emergent issues. Dr. Noara is passionate about public health and has a social media page called @bncharge to share awareness on health-related and community matters.
Prof. Omar Hasan Kasule
Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology & Bioethics
Chairman of Institutional Review Board (IRB), Pharmaceutical Clinical Trials,
King Fahad Medical City
Omar Hasan Kasule, Sr. is a physician holding a doctorate in epidemiology from Harvard University.
He is a Clinical Trials Consultant, a Research manager, a Medical Educator and Bioethics Consultant. For more than 30 years, he taught research methods, epidemiology, study design, study analysis as well as well as academic and general management in North America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.
He was Deputy Dean for Research and Chairman of research ethics committees for 20+ years.
He has taught and consulted on clinical and research bioethics and clinical quality assurance in North America, Southeast Asia, and Middle East.
In the field of clinical trials he has experience in submissions, auditing, monitoring and training as Chairman of IRBs (2011- present), handling and approving 900+ new studies a year including monitoring and auditing clinical trials (drugs and devices) sponsored by major transnational pharmaceutical firms (including IQVIA, MCT-CRO, Sanofi, Rhythm Pharm, Clinart, Merk Sharp, Eli Lilly, Astra Zeneca, Medtronic, Phoenix, Hoffman La Roche, Novartis, Quintiles, Eagle Pharmaceuticals, Novo Nordisk, Clintec, Roche etc.) as well as experience in dealing with the Food and Drug Administration, and the Ministry of Health as well.
Prof. Hani Tamim
Professor of Medicine
Program Director, Master of Science in Health Research Management
College of Medicine, Alfaisal University
Dr. Hani Tamim has received his Bachelor of Science in Biology from the American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon in 1994. His Masters of Public Health was obtained from Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, the USA in 1995. In 2003, he finished his Ph.D. from McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with his dissertation on the effect of antidepressants on the risks of cancer development. Moreover, Dr. Tamim was enrolled in a two-year post-doctoral fellowship from the University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with his major project being the effect of Proton Pump Inhibitors on the risk of gastric cancer. In 2005, he then took a post at the College of Medicine and King Abdullah International Medical Research Center at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Since 2011, he has been working at the American University of Beirut as a professor, mainly directing the biostatistics unit at the Clinical Research Institute.
Dr. Tamim’s research interests include cancer research, pharmaco-epidemiology, research methodology, case-control studies, as well as statistical analyses of epidemiological data. Dr. Tamim’s publication record exceeds 400 publications and includes different disciplines, such as cancer, surgery, critical care, obstetrics and gynecology, quality of life, nephrology, pediatrics, as well as other methodological papers. More specifically, his cancer publications are related to the effect of different drugs (antidepressants, antibiotics, warfarin, acid-suppressive drugs, etc.) on cancer development (breast cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, urogenital cancers, etc.).
Prof. Hala Tamim
Professor, School of Kinesiology and Health Science
York University
Ontario, Canada
Hala is a Professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science at York University and holds an adjunct faculty position in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology at Dalhousie University. She has a PhD in epidemiology from McGill University and a Master’s in Public Health from Emory University. Hala has over 20 years of professional teaching and training experience. She has extensive expertise in research methods and statistical analyses and has managed several community-based and multi-centre projects. Hala’s research interests are numerous with a major focus on maternal and child health.
Prof. Hassan El Solh
Senior Consultant, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (GenOrg)
Professor of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine,
American University of Bierut and Alfaisal University
As a practicing doctor, Prof. Hassan El Solh is a Pediatric Hematologist and Oncologist with a focus on stem cell transplantation. He received his MD from AUB in 1980 and pursued further training in Canada and the US. Academically, Dr. El Solh is a Professor of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at AUB and Alfaisal University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He serves on several editorial boards for high-impact medical journals, and his research interests include biology and treatment of cancer, particularly leukemia and stem cell transplant. Prior to becoming the Chief Medical Officer and Medical Center Director, Dr. El Solh was appointed as Chief of Staff of AUBMC and Director of the Children’s Cancer Center at AUBMC in 2012.
Prof. Hasan M Al-Dorzi
Pulmonary and Critical Care,
Intensive Care Department,
King Abdulaziz Medical City and King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences
Prof. Hasan Al-Dorzi graduated from the College of Medicine, American University of Beirut. He later completed his specialty and sub specialty training in Internal Medicine and Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine from Saint Louis University Hospital. Missouri, USA.
He currently serves as a Consultant in the Intensive Care Department at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Riyadh.
Dr. Al-Dorzi is also an Associate Professor at the College of Medicine, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh. He is greatly interested in Clinical Research and has published approximately 100 peer-reviewed publications in reputable journals.
Dr. Muhammad Raihan Sajid
Assistant Professor of Pathology
College of Medicine, Alfaisal University
Dr. Raihan Sajid is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology at Alfaisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He is a trained Hematologist with special interest in Medical Education. Since joining Alfaisal University he has served as the Director of the Problem-based Learning program, as the Director of the Mentorship Program, and currently serves as the Year 2 Director and member of the Curriculum Committee. He has a number of publications in Medical Education especially related to Flipped Classroom Learning and Blended Learning. He is always eager to introduce new and novel educational strategies that advance active learning in students. He can be found on Twitter as @raihan_sajid
Dates and Duration​
The program begins on Friday, September 10, 2021, and runs throughout the Fall 2021 semester. The workshops are conducted on Fridays and Saturdays for 2-3 hours each day. There are usually no classes around exams.
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​Target Audience​
All healthcare professionals including medical students (year 3 and above)
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Venue
Hybrid (Online and On-campus at Alfaisal University)
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Application Requirements​
An online application form is required to be submitted before the deadline. Important documents include:
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Personal statement (for students only) - Please provide a brief statement (about 300 words) stating your interest in the program and how does it assist you in fulfilling your career goals.​​
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Latest resume (for students only)​
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The above documents can be submitted through the same online application form.
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Application Form
Applications to the ASPiRE CRT program are open now. You can apply through the below link.
Fee and Payment Info
Alfaisal student (undergraduate/graduate): SAR 800
Non Alfaisal student: SAR 1,000
Other (Faculty, Clinicians, etc.): SAR 1,500
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Payment Information will be provided upon review and acceptance of application.
Application Deadline​
The deadline for submitting your complete application is Thursday, 09th September 2021 @ 10 PM
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Application Review
All submitted applications will be reviewed immediately. Applicants will be notified about the status of their application as soon as possible.
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Contact Info
You are welcome to contact us at iocom@alfaisal.edu any time should you have questions.
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