The findings in this project can provide a strong basis for developing clinically useful drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 and potentially provide an extra tool to end the current long-lasting pandemic.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified obesity as one of the top five mortality risks globally and is targeted for priority action as it is responsible for 5% of deaths associated with non-communicable diseases.

In high-income countries more than 50% of adults are overweight and over 20% are obese. The UAE has undergone rapid urbanisation and economic growth in the last 50 years, and it is well recognised that transitioning nations experience increased incidence of obesity associated with urban sprawl, sedentary lifestyles, change in diet and other risk factors.

Due to the rising obesity rates in the UAE, Al Jalila Foundation supported a research study lead by Professor Yousef AlBastaki at Dubai Health Authority to determine the UAE population reference standard charts for weight, height, body mass index, skinfold thickness, and eating habits at ages 0–18 years.

For reliable estimates of obesity in children, valid measures should be used as using body weight alone does not allow for differences in height and stature.

The aim of this study was to determine a range of anthropometric measurements including skinfold thickness measurements in four different areas of the body, to construct population growth charts for body mass index (BMI), skinfolds in UAE national children.

This study enabled the comparison of UAE growth charts with the growth charts from other countries and provided a better picture of the prevalence of obesity healthcare providers can deliver to the policy makers on the trends of BMI and obesity among children in the UAE.

Approximately one in five women develop gestational diabetes mellitus during pregnancy, which has serious complications for both baby and mother, but fortunately reverses after delivery.

Women with this condition are at seven-fold higher risk of developing adult diabetes within 7-10 years after childbirth. However, it is difficult to predict which women with gestational diabetes would develop adult diabetes.

Professor Riad Bayoumi from Mohamed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU) is leading a gestational diabetes research study “A novel model for investigating the genetic and environmental components of type 2 diabetes mellitus; a proof of principle’ to help foresee future diagnosis.

The study looked at Emirati women with a history of gestational diabetes who either developed or did not develop adult diabetes 10 years later. The team established a modified oral glucose tolerance test that enabled them to predict which of the women would develop adult diabetes in the future.

The analysis showed that women with predominant peripheral resistance to insulin, with raised fasting blood glucose levels during pregnancy, were at a greater risk of developing adult diabetes, compared to women with raised blood glucose following a meal.

The outcome suggested that women who identify at higher risk for diabetes, should follow a certain regimen after childbirth through frequent follow-ups, lifestyle modifications, and specific treatment protocols, to slow down the development of diabetes and improve their quality of life.

To learn more about this study please click here.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women affecting 1 in 8 women and studies show the average age of diagnosis in the UAE is 10 years younger than elsewhere in the world.

In efforts to fight breast cancer, Al Jalila Foundation invested in an important study with Dr Farah Benyettou from New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) who is working on a drug delivery system to target the cancer directly and minimise the side effects.

Potent chemicals have long been used to fight cancer. These drugs are a vital mode of treatment, but they have a major drawback: they kill both healthy and cancerous cells, and patients who undergo chemotherapy experience serious side effects, such as hair loss and nausea.

Dr Farah Benyettou collaborated with Dr Ali Trabolsi, assistant professor of chemistry at NYUAD, to create a magnetic nanoparticle that can carry the chemotherapy drug Doxorubicin straight to tumour sites.

Breast cancer tumors tend to be accessible and localised and nanoparticles tend to naturally accumulate when injected into the bloodstream. The approach uses therapeutic magnetic nanoparticles that travel directly to the tumor when injected into the bloodstream and destroy it without damaging healthy tissues, thus avoiding the systemic toxicity usually associated with chemotherapy.

A new nanoparticle could change the future of how drug delivery systems are used, and help doctors directly target cancer cells, thus increasing the efficacy of chemotherapy and avoiding damage to healthy cells.

Tobacco use is one of the leading causes of non-infectious disease deaths worldwide. Globally, and in the Middle East, cigarette smoking and alternative forms of tobacco smoking such as shisha and dokha has attracted serious public health concern.

Professor Sausan Al Kawas from University of Sharjah lead an investigation, supported by Al Jalila Foundation, on the effects of smoking dokha and other tobacco on the composition of oral microbiome in relation to oral health and associated with increases in the risk for cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and obesity.

The oral microbiome plays a key role in human health and contributes to many diseases including both oral and systemic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. Tobacco smoking affects the microbial ecology through several mechanisms leading to unbalanced microbiome or dysbiosis.

The effect of smoking different tobacco types on the supragingival and subgingival microbiome has not been reported previously.

By conducting a comprehensive oral examination and assessment of oral microbiome composition in different groups of smoker and none smoker individuals, the team found altered subgingival microbial communities in smokers. These findings suggest that periodontal microbiome dysbiosis is promoted by smoking tobacco and is associated with periodontitis.

In conclusion, cigarettes and alternative types of tobacco including dokha and shisha significantly altered both supragingival and subgingival plaque microbiome. Understanding the factors which alter the microbial community in the oral cavity is crucial to the design of health-promoting strategies for tobacco cessation for better oral and general health.

According to the World Heart Federation over 17 million people die from cardiovascular disease annually making it the leading causes of death globally. It is also the primary cause of death in the UAE contributing to 30% of fatalities.

To tackle this problem, Al Jalila Foundation funds several research studies in the UAE including one lead by Professor Anatoliy Shmygol from United Arab Emirates University. Professor Anatoliy’s study works to discover the mechanisms of direct effects of oxytocin on cardiac electrophysiology and excitation-contraction.

Oxytocin is often referred to as the “hormone of happiness” and is associated with childbirth, breast feeding and maternal behavior. However, in recent years, it has become clear that oxytocin plays a much wider role in human biology.

It is involved in various physiological processes including cardiovascular function. Oxytocin has been found to play a protective role against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury and against the diabetes-induced cardiomyopathy.

Professor Anatoliy and his team have discovered, in addition to their known expression in cardiac myocytes, oxytocin receptors are also expressed in cardiac fibroblasts.

The research has found that application of oxytocin to normal cardiac fibroblasts triggers robust increases of cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration. Future work is planned to evaluate the pathophysiological significance and this work will provide theoretical basis for development of new therapeutics to treat heart disease.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and by funding breast cancer research, Al Jalila Foundation is enabling UAE-based scientist Dr Mawieh Hamad from University of Sharjah to ‘evaluate the anti-carcinogenic potential of biologically-driven intracellular iron depletion’ and discover improved treatment options for patients.

Breast cancer cells appear to exhibit increased levels of oxidative stress while iron chelation (removal of iron excess) has shown to minimise oxidative stress levels to where cell growth and division is reduced or stopped. However, iron chelation therapy carries toxic risks that potentially result in significant side-effects and even death. Other studies have suggested that estrogen treatment may also lead to intracellular iron depletion to minimise oxidative stress levels in cancer cells.

This study is examining the capacity of estrogen receptor (ER) engagement to induce cellular iron depletion and anti-growth effects in breast cancer cells.  The work has shown that ER signaling associates with significant labile iron pool (LIP) depletion resulting in reduced cell viability and proliferation with increased cell autophagy. This suggests the carcinogenic potential of ER signaling may exert significant anti-growth effects in cancer.  The study is currently in testing stages and data has already been presented in international scientific meetings and published in several international peer-reviewed journals.

Read more here about this promising research to give hope to breast cancer patients.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cancer and the second highest cause of cancer deaths in the UAE.

To tackle the issue, Al Jalila Foundation awarded a research grant to Dr Maha Saber-Ayad, a medical Pharmacologist from the College of Medicine at University of Sharjah, to understand the role of galanin in CRC patients and potentially discover therapies that can prevent the progression of the disease.

The colon has a unique network of neurons that secrete various proteins known as “neuropeptides”, one of which is “galanin”.  The study evaluated the role of galanin in different stages of 80 CRC patients’ samples, using different lab techniques, including immunohistochemistry and next-generation sequencing, to take snapshots of the disease in different stages at the molecular level to decipher the role of the protein in the development of CRC.

Through bioinformatics analysis, several pathways were identified and implicated in tumour progression: cell cycle, cell division, autophagy (self-eating), regulation of expression of tumour suppressor genes, and immune system process.  Twelve key genes were shared among those pathways and in turn the expression of those genes evaluated in several CRC cell lines to validate results. These results can lead to the discovery of potential therapies and give hope to patients with CRC.

According to the World Health Organization epilepsy is one of the most common neurological diseases affecting people of all ages globally. It is estimated that up to 70% of people living with epilepsy could live seizure-free if properly diagnosed and treated.

Al Jalila Foundation research grant recipient Dr Hasan Mir from the American University of Sharjah is dedicated to developing a cost effective, more convenient, and accurate diagnosis that will enable improved treatment.

Treatment of epilepsy is facilitated by determining the brain location where a seizure originates. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans can be used to estimate this location but have the disadvantage of being specialised imaging modalities with limited availability and they are not suited to capturing transitory events, such as the seizure onset.

Dr Mir’s study investigates the use of electroencephalogram (EEG) source imaging as a cost-effective complement to an MRI in developing a high accuracy estimate of where the epileptic seizure location occurs on the brain.

The investigators have developed a real-time algorithm based on stochastic gradient descent to localise and track the space-time dynamics of brain sources. The efficacy of the proposed algorithm was verified for both simulated scenarios and clinical data. The team are currently working on further improvements to the algorithm along with a more comprehensive performance validation.

According to the World Health Organization an estimated one in 160 children worldwide has an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Based on these statistics, there is a need to better understand the unique genetic causes of Autism as well as the pattern of treatment sought by parents of children with the condition. Al Jalila Foundation invested in ‘A prospective study of UAE children with Autism Spectrum Disorder’ with leading expert Dr Ammar Albanna from Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital.

The pioneering study paved the way for future comprehensive studies that will assist in identifying the genetic underpinning of ASD which will have significant implications, including prevention, healthcare systems planning, and individualised treatment.

Dr Ammar commented “The grant was instrumental in shaping a comprehensive research-based ASD program at Al Jalila Children’s.  The deep phenotyping translates to high-quality assessments following rigorous protocols, which serves as immediate clinical gain. Scientific research is key to improving clinical services, as well as scientific discovery.”

In addition to bolstering the Emirati research community, this grant gained attention in scientific publications, peer-reviewed journals, conferences, and opened collaborations with institutions in the UAE and beyond.

Watch here as Dr Ammar Albanna and his colleagues at Al Jalila Children’s as they commemorate Autism Awareness Month and #StandUpForBlue.