Public health experts and researchers from around the world gathered on Monday for a five-day conference at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) in Al Ain, UAE, to discuss the role of the Middle East in tackling global health issues, AMEinfo.com reports. “The theme of this conference concerns the health of our global population and, consequently, transcends perspectives, jurisdictions, and boundaries of individual nations,” Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, minister of higher education and scientific research and chancellor of the UAEU, said during opening remarks at the conference (1/5).

Global health “issues can, and often do, have an enormous impact upon world economic development and political stability,” he added, Gulf News reports (Kazmi, 1/5). Emirates News Agency includes additional statements from Nahyan’s address (1/4).

Topics to be covered over the course of the conference include genetic diseases, mental health, pandemics and reproduction, the National reports. Researchers at UAEU hope to use the conference as a springboard for identifying research topics that will “‘contribute to the health and stability of this country and region,’ said Professor Rory Hume, the provost of the university,” according to the newspaper (Underwood, 1/3).