Business and academia collaborate at Dubai Science Park to shape the science sector

Dubai Science Park, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Al Jalila Foundation discuss ways to enhance UAE’s science sector

Dubai-UAE: 13 September, 2017:  Dubai Science Park (DSP), a member of TECOM Group and the region’s first business community dedicated to the science sector, hosted a networking event in collaboration with the Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU), Dubai Healthcare City Authority’s first medical university, and Al Jalila Foundation, the philanthropic organisation that supports medical research and educational programmes, to discuss ways to enhance the UAE’s healthcare sector.

Welcoming a science-focused audience to DSP, comprising representatives from academia, business and government, Marwan Abdulaziz Janahi, Executive Director of DSP, said: “With ambitious goals to turn Dubai into a global healthcare hub, we continue to create enabling platforms for our science-focused community to work together and to bridge the gap between the stakeholders from government, business and academia. Our latest networking event helps cultivate and deepen our already close working relationships, much to the benefit of our DSP-based business partners from the life-science, energy and environment sectors.”

Dr Abdulkareem Sultan Al Olama, Chief Executive Officer of Al Jalila Foundation, said, “It is our overriding goal to put the UAE at the forefront of medical innovation. To this end, we aim to train the next generation of scientists, build scientific capacity, fund attractive research projects and engage the broader community. Al Jalila Foundation offers attractive fellowship programmes for Emirati students at locally and internationally renowned universities, whilst offering short-term funding for research projects for UAE-based universities and hospitals. This event at DSP marks a welcome opportunity for us to glean industry insights and learn about the sector-specific requirements.”

Alawi Alsheikh-Ali, Dean of the College of Medicine and Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at MBRU, said, “Creating a thriving science sector must depend on dialogue. As we grow ever more interconnected we need to find ways of how to collaborate with one another. For MBRU this means not only to forge synergies with other universities, but with businesses and governments to deliver technologies and human capabilities that produce results that reach the markets and eventually the individual patient.”

During the event, MBRU faculty members offered the audience a glimpse of their research ranging from neurodevelopmental disorders, vector- borne viral disease and antibiotic resistance, to asthma and obesity. Amongst the researchers were Professor Vaughan Macefield, Professor – Physiology, Professor Norbert Nowotny, Professor - Microbiology, Dr Mohammed Uddin, Assistant Professor - Human Genetics, Dr Saba Al Heialy, Assistant Professor - Immunology, Dr Abiola Senok, Associate Professor - Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, and Dr Yajnavalka Banerjee, Associate Professor - Biochemistry.

The breakfast was followed by a tour of the DSP Laboratory Complex that houses the first private laboratories in the region. Participating DSP business partners included Amerispec Diagnostics, Dermpath Consult and Olympus Middle East, showcasing their latest technologies and equipment used at DSP.

Both, Al Jalila Foundation and Mohammed Bin Rashid University have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dubai Science Park to mutually promote the science sector in the UAE, forge business synergies and support innovators seeking funding for scientific projects.