Purelab's Transplant Immunology Laboratory Receives UAE's First American Society Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics “ASHI” Accreditation

 

 

Abu Dhabi, 03 March 2023 – Reinforcing its surging reputation, Purelab – a subsidiary of PureHealth Group – the UAE’s largest integrated healthcare platform – has announced that its flagship Transplant Immunology Laboratory has achieved another international accreditation from the American Society of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI).

 

With the accreditation, Purelab’s Transplant Immunology Laboratory has become the first-of-its-kind immunology lab to be accredited in the UAE. The achievement is a demonstration of the Transplant Immunology Lab’s commitment to advanced learning, continuous improvement, and innovation by striving to sustain the highest levels of patient and donor care and reinforcing clinical excellence and quality. 

The ASHI Laboratory Accreditation is recognised as an industry gold standard for Transplant Immunology Laboratories. It also ensures that laboratories are meeting stringent requirements and maintaining the highest standards of laboratory quality, safety, and accuracy. 

Commenting on the accreditation Arindam Haldar, Chief Executive Officer of Purelab, said: “The ASHI accreditation is an endorsement of Purelab’s commitment to the PureHealth Group vision of building a sustainable, world-class healthcare ecosystem in the UAE. Aligned with our mandate to revolutionise the healthcare of the future by moving away from sick care to preventive care, this certification reflects Purelab’s resolve to provide internationally recognised quality of care to everyone – enabling them to live longer and healthier.”

 

Dr. Zain Al Yafei, Chief Medical Officer at Purelab, said: “The ASHI accreditation of our Transplant Immunology Lab is a testimony of our efforts and commitment to ensuring the highest quality and excellence across our network. We are honoured to receive this accolade that reflects and emphasises our world-class holistic ecosystem to ensure the best quality of care is provided to everyone – enabling them to live longer and healthier. I congratulate the team at Purelab for their dedication and perseverance in making this accomplishment possible, which will lead to better care and improved health outcomes.” 

The Transplant Immunology Laboratory was established in the early 2000s as a Medical Research Centre in Mafraq Hospital. Today, the laboratory proudly serves the United Arab Emirates transplant community as the main referral laboratory for the Donor Transplant Programme. 

It provides a high complexity specialised state-of-the-art Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics testing to support both solid organ and Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and provides services to the Emirates Organ Transplant Centre (EOTC) and various transplant programmes within the UAE and in the region. 

In addition to the ASHI accreditation, the Transplant Immunology Laboratory has been accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and ISO 15189:2012/ Emirates International Accreditation Centre (EIAC). 

 

The Transplant Immunology Laboratory also supports the UAE Deceased Donor Program and the UAE National Paired Exchange Program. It is the only laboratory in the UAE that offers high-resolution HLA typing by next generation “clinical diagnostic” sequencing, post- Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant chimerism (engraftment) testing, and transfusion support (Red blood cell genotyping, Human Platelet genotyping).

The Transplant Immunology laboratory is staffed with board-certified consultants, clinical scientists, supervisors, and technologists with vast experience in the field.