Doha – March 9, 2024: Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar’s (WCM-Q) Dr. Isra Marei, postdoctoral associate in pharmacology, and Dr. Samson Mathews Samuel, research associate in physiology and biophysics, have earned full membership at Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society.

Founded at Cornell University in 1886, Sigma Xi is considered one of the world’s oldest and largest scientific organizations. This prestigious scientific research society aims to reward excellence in scientific research and to encourage a sense of companionship and cooperation among scientists in all fields. Membership in Sigma Xi is by nomination and invitation only and full membership is conferred upon those who have demonstrated noteworthy research achievements or potential. Dr. Marei and Dr. Samuel were nominated for full membership at the society in recognition of their scholarly achievements and contributions to the advancement of knowledge in their fields.

Dr. Marei, a member of the research team working with Dr. Chris Triggle, professor of pharmacology at WCM-Q, is the recipient of the 2020 L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Middle East Regional Young Talents Award for her research towards developing 3D vascular drug screening platforms. Dr. Marei’s research on blood progenitors in type 2 diabetes has garnered significant recognition and support through several grants and awards, with the most recent distinction being the prestigious American Heart Association’s (AHA) 2023 Paul Dudley White International Scholar Award, which recognizes excellence in cardiovascular science and medicine research worldwide. 

Dr. Samuel, who works with Dr. Dietrich Büsselberg, professor of physiology and biophysics at WCM-Q, has more than 50 peer-reviewed original and review publications, with several published in high-impact journals such as Circulation, Trends in Microbiology, Diabetes, Cancer Treatment Reviews, Cancer and Metastasis Reviews, and Cancers. Dr. Samuel has also been recognized as a world expert in metformin in Expertscape, the world’s leading index of academic achievement and expertise in healthcare. The index ranks the performance of researchers impartially, using a series of objective metrics to judge the number and quality of research papers and the impact factor of the journals in which they have been published over the last ten years. 

Sigma Xi chapters can be found at colleges and universities, government laboratories, and industry research centers around the world. More than 200 Nobel Prize winners have been members of Sigma Xi.