middle east monitor Update from around the region
Mayo Clinic Laboratories and American Hospital Dubai form strategic partnership Mayo Clinic Laboratories and American Hospital Dubai have announce a strategic partnership aimed at improving advanced laboratory diagnostics in the Dubai region. Under the agreement, the two organizations will begin delivering laboratory testing through a collaboration based out of American Hospital Dubai in early 2021. “Our goal for this relationship is to offer advanced laboratory testing to better help clinicians answer complex medical questions for their patients,” said William Morice II, M.D., Ph.D., president of Mayo Clinic Laboratories. “Effective laboratory diagnostics is critical to improving patient care, and, by bringing this service straight to the region, we are dramatically reducing test turnaround times.” Mayo Clinic Laboratories and American Hospital Dubai also will work together to improve access to complex laboratory diagnostics for the region’s providers.
Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Centre treats first Emirati patient The Abu Dhabi Stem Cells Center (ADSCC), in collaboration with Sheikh
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Khalifa Medical City, has treated its first Emirati patient through the Abu Dhabi Bone Marrow Transplant program (ADBMT). The transplant was performed in Abu Dhabi, and the patient is recovering well at home. The AD-BMT program was established by ADSCC in August 2020 and has been treating patients since its inception in collaboration with Sheikh Khalifa Medical City. The AD-BMT program relies on stem cell therapy to treat patients with hematological and oncological illnesses, including bone marrow transplantation, which is an established stem cell-based treatment for a number of blood malignancies. These include multiple myeloma, plasma cell leukemia, large diffuse B-cell lymphoma, and Hodgkin lymphoma, as well as autoimmune diseases and benign hematological conditions such as thalassemia, among others. In less than a year, eight patients with different types of blood malignancies have been treated. AbdelRahman Al Jaberi, the eighth patient in question, said: “I wasn’t aware that stem cell therapy was available in the UAE, but I’m grateful to God and to our leader, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed – may he have a long life – for supporting the center so that I don’t have to travel and can recover at home in Abu Dhabi amongst my family.” Dr Yendry Ventura, Specialist in Immunology and General Manager of ADSCC, said, “As immunologists, we strive to identify innovative methods to treat conditions that are known to be challenging to cure. Using stem cell therapy in the form of bone marrow transplants is one of the most well-known and established methods to treat various conditions of blood malignancies.” ADSCC was founded with the primary objective of meeting growing domestic and regional demand for advanced medical services and the most innovative treatments in the UAE.
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Dr Alya Al Mazrouie, ICLDC Acting Executive Director
ICLDC accredited as Collaborating Centre for Obesity Management Imperial College London Diabetes Centre (ICLDC) has become the first centre in Abu Dhabi and the third in the UAE to be accredited as a Collaborating Centre for Obesity Management (COM) by the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO). Under the EASO COM scheme, obesity management centres are accredited against a set of stringent criteria and in accordance with accepted European and academic guidelines to ensure consistently high standards in different countries across the world. The EASO Obesity Management Task Force completed its assessment of ICLDC and granted it an initial two-year EASO International Affiliate COM status from 1 April this year. In addition, the body has recognised two of ICLDC’s experts – Dr Mohgah El Sheikh and Dr Matthew Allum, both consultant endocrinologists and diabetologists – as EASO National Clinical Fellows. ICLDC Acting Executive Director, Dr Alya Al Mazrouei, commented: “We are delighted to have received this recognition, which affirms our expertise in managing obesity alongside diabetes.” It is estimated that over 37% of adults in the UAE are living with obesity and its presence is closely linked with a large number of health conditions, including heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
