Award deadline extended

Entrants will have until February to gather documents for Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences.

Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals have an extra two months to submit entries for the Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences.

The deadline for the prize, which celebrates achievements in the medical field, was extended from December until the end of February, according to Wam, the state news agency.

Eight awards worth a total of Dh2.8 million are to be handed out.

The deadline was extended because the process of submission is a long one, said Amany Al Okda, awards spokesman.

"For nominees to complete their documents as is required, each nomination [is] combined with many documents, all of which are available on the official website."

Each award requires a different application form, she said.

There will be no other changes to the format of the annual event, for which this year's theme is embryo/neonatal medicine.

Last year's awards focused on diabetes.

As with previous years there are three main geographic categories, said Prof Youssef Abdul Razzaq, chairman of the scientific committee.

There will be three international awards, two Arab world awards and three UAE awards.

Although several of the prizes in the international category will focus on neonatal and foetal medicine, finalists will also be rewarded for humanitarian efforts and innovative research, he said.

The number of entrants will be revealed once the deadline for submissions has passed.