Letter of Recommendation for Nawal Bahia el Idrissi

Nawal Bahia el Idrissi, a student from the INHolland School of Health, Alkmaar, spent five months in our laboratory in 2005 for her first period of practical training. She worked on the implementation of a new MLPA technique for the quantification of genes in the beta-globin gene cluster. This new technique called Multiplex Ligation dependant Probe Amplification was mend for evaluation of subgroup of patients with a defect in the synthesis of beta-globin (beta-thalassemia) that have large and variable deletions in the beta-gene locus. Nawal Bahia el Idrissi came to us as an inexperienced but self conscious student that developed remarkably fast the practical and intellectual skills necessary for the tasks given. She was creative in applying the techniques, brought in her own ideas and had a thorough knowledge of the literature on the subject. She was very social in the group, always willing to help other people if needed. At the end of her practical training period she wrote an excellent report about the results obtained. She presented her results in English for a scientific audience. Her report was the basis for a validation study for the MLPA test as a diagnostic tool for screening deletion type beta-thalassemia. Nawal Bahia el Idrissi is a promising student and I fully recommend her for any grant that will help her to develop her scientific skills further.

Amsterdam, 17 July 2008

R.van Zwieten Head laboratory Red Cell Diagnostics Sanquin Blood Supply Foundation