Mohammad Saif Hilal Al Shehi, the UAE Ambassador to Canada, congratulated Alia Al Mansoori for winning the UAE's "Genes In Space" competition for students.

The UAE Embassy in Canada hosted a reception, under the patronage of the UAE Space Agency, Boeing and The National, to felicitate the winner.

Ambassador Al Shehi welcomed the guests, including a member of the Canadian Senate, Director of the Canadian Space Agency, heads of some foreign diplomatic missions to Canada and officials of some Canadian and international institutions.

Al Mansoori thanked the embassy and the guests for acknowledging her accomplishment, and the opportunity to launch from the International Space Station, with the development of DNA-based experiments that are currently being tested by astronauts at the Kennedy Space Station.

She also expressed her happiness over winning this award, adding that it had increased her desire to continue studying space science. She thanked the officials at the UAE Space Agency for their efforts, as well as the UAE's wise leadership, for supporting ambitious youth to develop their potentials in various fields.