Dr. Ahmed Hasasneh, a lecturer at the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies and Head of the Data Science Department at the Arab American University, won the second place for the 2022 second scientific research award in the physical sciences field, presented by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research for studies related to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects.

The researcher was rewarded at a ceremony organized by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research under the auspices of Prime Minister, Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh, with the presence of His Excellency the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Abu Mowais.

The researcher Hassasna’s paper is entitled “Wearable Devices, Smartphones, and Interpretable Artificial Intelligence in Combating COVID-19”. It was published in the Swiss Sensors Journal, which is listed in the first quarter journals with an impact factor of 3.847.

The paper presented a model based on explainable artificial intelligence algorithms to predict infection with the Corona virus by analysing vital body signals of heart and movement taken from smart watches, based on the analysis of texts entered by volunteers in the study using natural language processing techniques. It is reported that Sensors Journal has ranked the research paper among the most cited papers for 2022.

These research efforts come through a project led by the University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, in cooperation with Palestine Ahliya University, the Arab American University, and the University of Coimbra in Portugal.

The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research launched its award this year on the topic of the Corona pandemic and ways to confront it through research and intellectual contributions in three fields, including health sciences, physical sciences, and social sciences. It is worth noting that nine projects were qualified for the award out of 68 submitted applications.