Category Archives: Stories of Hope

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Stories of Hope

Majid Al Futtaim gives hope to patients in the UAE

Majid Al Futtaim, the leading shopping mall, communities, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, is a long-term partner of Al Jalila Foundation and shares a common goal to provide quality treatment to patients in need. The retail giant has launched  several initiatives and campaigns to support Al Jalila Foundation healthcare programs.

Majid Al Futtaim is very active every year during #PINKtober and promotes special offers and activities to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer treatment and research.

This Ramadan the team ran a campaign through the SHARE rewards program by working together with their brands to help children in the UAE access healthcare and bring comfort to those who need it the most.

Over the years Majid Al Futtaim has also participated in a number of Holiday campaigns and brought on brands Lululemon, AllSaints and THAT Concept Store to dedicate a portion of their proceeds raising AED 220,000 for Al Jalila Foundation causes.

In addition to fundraising campaigns Majid Al Futtaim brand, Crate and Barrel, supported the interior fit out of our newly opened Majlis Al Amal cancer drop-in centre.

Our partnerships are integral to realising our mission and we are grateful for donors like Majid Al Futtaim that continue to support the work we do to transform lives in the UAE.

Research Matters, Stories of Hope

Pioneering epigenetic-based analysis for liver cancer

Liver cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide and the sixth most prevalent cancer in the GCC countries. A survey by the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi reported liver cancer as the tenth most common cancer in the UAE and one of the top five leading causes of death in male cancer patients. Liver cancer shows significant gender bias, with incidence two to four times more common in males than females. This phenomenon is not fully understood, but the protective role of the estrogen hormone was reported.

To understand this critical issue, Al Jalila Foundation awarded a research grant to Dr Jibran Sualeh Muhammad from the University of Sharjah to study ‘Estrogen-induced epigenetic regulation of Iron metabolism in hepatocellular carcinoma’.

The study showed that estrogen hormone and estrogen receptor agonists disrupt intracellular iron homeostasis by epigenetically downregulating the expression of crucial iron metabolism-related genes in liver cancer cells.

Identifying epigenetic-based gene silencing that could turn off gene expression in cancer cells is a new field of investigation in carcinogenesis. It is now becoming clear that input from the epigenetics-based analysis will continue to make ever-increasing contributions to liver cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy in the coming years.

Future studies would pave the way for further consideration of the complex relationship between estrogen hormone signaling and liver cancer cell death. Based on these findings, there is a possibility of innovation in terms of using estrogen-receptor agonists as an adjunct therapy to enhance liver cancer cells’ sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs.

To learn more about this study, please click here.

Stories of Hope

The sky is the limit for medical scholarship graduate

As part of Al Jalila Foundation’s mission to transform lives through medical innovation, our scholarship fund supports brilliant medical students who display great promise to utilise their talent to be an integral part of the future medical community in the UAE.

Alea Khalid Abdelgadir Mohamed is one of these rising stars who received a scholarship to attend the Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU) six-year program to pursue a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS).

Having enrolled in 2016 Alea is now in her final weeks of the program and is in absolute awe of the opportunity she was given and intends to make the most of what she has learned.

“I am beyond grateful to Al Jalila Foundation for offering me the esteemed scholarship to complete the MBBS program at MBRU. Through the program I had support from incredible mentors, opportunities to participate in research at some of the world’s most prestigious hospitals and, most importantly, I learned how to become an empathetic, compassionate and hardworking physician striving to always put my patients first. I believe that these experiences will equip me with the necessary skills to contribute to the UAE’s healthcare system creating a positive impact in the delivery of effective and safe healthcare.”

We wish Alea every success as she moves forward in her role as a healthcare professional making a difference to patients’ lives.

Stories of Hope

Gulf Islamic Investments foster CSR in the community

At Al Jalila Foundation the support we receive from the business community is integral and financial business partners like Gulf Islamic Investments (GII), a leading UAE-based Shari’ah-compliant financial services company, helps energise the work we do to transform lives in the UAE.

Financial institutions have the potential to be the backbone of charitable giving and we are grateful for Gulf Islamic Investments’ support who not only donate Zakat each year but also promote corporate social responsibility in unique ways.

Earlier this year GII launched Eureka GCC 2021 the first edition in Dubai fostering the spirit of entrepreneurship in the region. The 5-month long competition offered aspiring entrepreneurs the opportunity to design solid business models, gain mentorship from renowned VCs and angel investors and avail excellent networking opportunities and educational workshops.

GII opted to move from the traditional corporate gifting and made donations to support medical research and patient treatment on behalf of 60 jury, mentors and speakers of Eureka GCC 2021 and their names were engraved on Bassmat Rashid Bin Saeed donor recognition wall as a token of appreciation.

Our CEO Dr Abdulkareem Al Olama was delighted to welcome Mohammed Al Hassan and Pankaj Gupta Co-Founders and Co-CEOs to Al Jalila Foundation to engrave ‘Gulf Islamic Investments’ name on the donor wall marking our longstanding partnership and GII’s generous contributions.

Stories of Hope

New graduate is honoured to be a part of the UAE vision

A strong healthcare system is the cornerstone of a successful society. To support the UAE’s national healthcare agenda Al Jalila Foundation invests in the future generation of healthcare professionals by providing scholarships to promising medical students.

One very successful student, Seyed Ali Seyed Reza Safizadeh Shabestari, received the coveted scholarship in 2016 and will be graduating in the summer of 2022.

Seyed’s dedication and hard work have been consistent throughout the six-year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) program at Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU).

Through the support of incredible professors and mentors Seyed was able to publish several first-author papers and co-author in reputable journals such as iScience and Human Genomics. He has also participated in several global conferences, including the European Society of Human Genetics 2019 held in Gothenburg, Sweden, where he was nominated as the best poster candidate and did an oral presentation.

Seyed is also the founder and president of MBRU’s Radiology Club which serves to establish a foundation for medical students to become familiarised with the field of imaging,

Seyed is forever grateful for the opportunity he was given, “Thanks to the support from Al Jalila Foundation through this scholarship and MBRU’s mentoring, I am now able to contribute to advancing the research and academic vision in the UAE. I hope to be involved in the future trajectory of radiology, where there is no limit to what can be attained.”

We wish Seyed the very best in this next chapter as he pursues a life-long dream of becoming a doctor to save patients’ lives.

Stories of Hope

Abdulrahman’s life is forever changed following heart surgery

4-year-old Abdulrahman suffered from left ventricular atrophy syndrome which is a disease that causes the narrowing of the aortic valve that separates the left ventricle from the large blood vessel leaving your heart (aorta).

Abdulrahman suffered from heart complications since birth and had already undergone two major surgeries to correct the congenital heart defect. In early 2022, he needed a final surgery that would restore his health and give him the opportunity to live a full and happy life.

Abdulrahman’s father works as a manager at a small pest control business while his mother is a housewife. The family were unable to fund the significant costs of the critical operation and thanks to Al Jalila Foundation A’awen program, and the community that rallied together to raise the necessary funds for his life-changing surgery, Abdulrahman was able to undergo the open-heart surgery. The young boy has made a full recovery; his energy is growing daily and he now enjoys playing with his brothers and looks forward to attending school soon.

His parents are filled with appreciation, “Our son’s condition is continuously improving thanks to Al Jalila Foundation’s support. We cannot thank the team enough for standing with us in the difficult time and showing us incredible compassion when we needed it the most. Abdulrahman is so excited to be able to go to school and we look forward to seeing him grow up strong and healthy with a bright future ahead of him.”

Stories of Hope

How a Dubai mum got help to beat cancer

Aisha Soud Mohammed, a 30-year-old mother from Kenya, who has been living in Dubai with her husband since 2018, was leading a normal life until she felt a few uneasy symptoms in December 2020. “I started noticing blood in my stool. I was worried and told my husband about it. We went to the hospital and met a specialist. After tests and scans that evening, the doctor asked for colonoscopy because they had noticed something abnormal,” said Aisha.

She went through colonoscopy, which was covered under her medical insurance. Subsequently, she was told by the hospital about the horrific diagnosis. “The doctor met me and said that I had Stage 3 colorectal cancer. I broke down. I couldn’t believe I had cancer at this age, but Alhamdulillah, Allah knows best,” she added.

In January 2021, she underwent a major surgery to excise the tumour. The surgery went off well and she had a colostomy bag as a life-saving support mechanism as she couldn’t pass stools normally. After the surgery, she started a follow-up treatment plan involving radiation therapy.

“All this was happening in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. So I couldn’t go home. I couldn’t be with my family. It was just me and my husband as my son lives with the rest of my family in my home country. It was the toughest time for us,” she said.

Soon after Aisha started her radiation therapy, her insurance cover got exhausted. Her company tried to support her as much as they could, but the treatment proved to be very expensive. “We started looking for charity to support the second part of my treatment, which involved chemotherapy. Thank God, Al Jalila Foundation responded to my application and helped me to become a cancer survivor,” Aisha said.

She appealed to the A’awen programme at Al Jalila Foundation which covered the entire cost of her remaining treatment plan. “I received from Al Jalila Foundation more than what I could have asked for. I cannot thank the foundation enough for their support. I’m happy that I was able to take the road back to a healthy life. Al Jalila Foundation gave me hope and a fighting chance,” Aisha said.”

After one year with the colostomy bag, she recently had it removed and the recovery phase started after successful completion of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Dr Abdukareem Sultan Al Olama, CEO of Al Jalila Foundation, said the foundation gave hope to Aisha and other patients through the support of partners and donors. “At Al Jalila Foundation, we believe that health is the cornerstone of happiness and everyone deserves a second chance at health. With the support we receive, we are able to give hope to patients like Aisha and help alleviate their financial burden so that they can focus on treatment and recovery. Nothing makes us happier than experience the overwhelming joy from patients whose lives have been transformed after successful treatment. These are the precious moments that make our job at Al Jalila Foundation so rewarding.”

Note: Aisha’s story was published in Gulf News by Ali Al Shouk on 26 May 2022.

Research Matters, Stories of Hope

Developing novel treatment for COVID-19

COVID-19 has disrupted the world, produced chaos and posed a significant threat to global health. Since the first outbreak, several treatments have been developed to prevent the spread of this virus with many vaccines approved and extensively administered. However, the fact that SARS-CoV-2 rapidly mutates makes the efficacy and safety of this approach constantly under debate and the development of small molecule antivirals are still needed to combat the infection.

To tackle this global challenge, Al Jalila Foundation took the lead to support promising local research to fight COVID-19. One of these studies is led by Professor Taleb Al-Tel from the University of Sharjah and is directed toward the discovery of small molecules that inhibits the proteases enzymes of the virus with the aim to discover first-in-class treatment options.

Professor Taleb’s research has developed modular and efficient strategies to access the core scaffolds of various classes of nature-inspired compound collection employing complexity-to-diversity strategy. From this collection, a relatively potent lead drug candidate was discovered that covalently binds to the main protease of the virus.

Another finding is the discovery of novel small molecules that are potent inhibitors of the papain-like protease of the virus which were tested using various infected cells. To validate these findings, the compounds are under further analysis using transcriptomic studies and investigating their effect on innate immune system.

These important findings form the foundation for the development of novel treatments for COVID-19 infections.

Stories of Hope

Battle Cancer leads the fight against cancer

Al Jalila Foundation was delighted to be the charity partner of the first Battle Cancer CrossFit Challenge in Dubai which brought together athletes of all abilities in the fight against cancer.

Battle Cancer Dubai is a one-day fitness challenge for teams of four which incorporates teamwork, high-intensity cardio, functional fitness and accessible weights. The teams were encouraged to raise as much funds possible for their chosen cancer charity and those who raised more received higher scores.

The global fitness fundraising challenge in partnership with XDubai and endorsed by the Dubai Sports Council took place at NAS Sports Complex. The participants were surprised with a visit from His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, a sports enthusiast himself, who cheered on the teams as they competed for the top prize.

In the inaugural UAE edition of Battle Cancer the athletes and participants raised an incredible AED 120,000 for Al Jalila Foundation to support cancer research and treatment while spreading hope that the disease can be beaten. As a token of appreciation ‘Battle Cancer’ was added to Bassmat Rashid Bin Saeed donor recognition wall marking their dedication to winning the battle against cancer.

Since establishment in 2017, Battle Cancer has demonstrated an incredible commitment to promote cancer awareness through sport and has raised almost AED 12 million for more than 50 cancer charities across the world.

Battle Cancer founder and director, Scott Britton, said: “We share XDubai’s ethos that being active is a life choice and that pushing yourself is the challenge. Everyone has been touched by cancer in some way and Battle Cancer connects a supportive community united with fun, fitness and philanthropy.”

Plans are already underway for the 2023 edition of Battle Cancer…stay tuned for more details.

Research Matters, Stories of Hope, Uncategorized

Pioneering breast cancer research gives hope

In the UAE, breast cancer is the most common cancer affecting women and constitutes around 40% of all female cancers. In addition to the rising incidence, another cause for concern is the advanced stage at presentation with the majority of women in the UAE diagnosed under the age of 40 with advanced stage of breast cancer.

To tackle this important issue, Al Jalila Foundation awarded a research grant to Professor Rifat Hamoudi from the University of Sharjah with the aim to understand ‘the role HER2, Estrogen and Progesterone receptors and PI3 kinase in breast cancer pathogenesis to provide deeper understanding of how the interplay of those biomarkers can initiate breast cancer and later lead to more aggressive forms of breast cancer in patients’. Understanding the underlying mechanism, pathogenesis can potentially discover therapies that can prevent the progression of the disease.

The study developed a pioneering technique by merging methods from classical pathology, molecular biology, mathematics, computer science and advanced bioinformatics to understand the role of progesterone receptor on breast cancer pathogenesis.

In summary, the research project led to the identification of various diagnostic, prognostic and potentially therapeutic biomarkers for breast cancer, facilitating the development and implementation of personalised medicine including prevention, early diagnosis and targeted combination therapy approaches giving hope to patients.