The U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council convened a working lunch on Thursday, June 1st in Washington, D.C. in honor of the Chairman of the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, H.E. Mansoor Al Mansoori. Senior executives from major U.S. healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies, as well as key Abu Dhabi-based companies, participated in the luncheon discussion.

H.E. Al Mansoori is leading an Abu Dhabi life sciences delegation to the U.S. to meet with senior U.S. government healthcare leaders and to participate in the BIO Conference in Boston, Massachusetts next week.

His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan appointed H.E. Mansoor Al Mansoori as Chairman of the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi and a member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council in January 2023. Previously, H.E. Al Mansoori served as the Chief Operating Officer of G42, the U.A.E.’s home-grown artificial intelligence company.

At lunch, H.E. Al Mansoori described his priorities for the DOH Abu Dhabi to further leverage advanced technologies in its delivery of healthcare services, especially through collaboration and partnerships with industry. He also outlined the U.A.E.’s focus for improving the health of its population, which includes tackling chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and cancer, as well as increasing awareness of mental health illnesses. He also discussed the DOH’s focus on children’s health, public health, digital connected systems, and education. H.E. Al Mansoori further testified to the U.A.E.’s positioning as an emerging global hub for life sciences, and spoke about key trends and entities in the Abu Dhabi healthcare ecosystem working to attract and cultivate investment, research and development, and advanced manufacturing.

Dr. Ahmed Al Khazraji, Executive Director of Strategy and Policy at DOH, discussed the U.A.E.’s advanced genomics research and its work to develop personalized medical techniques informed by patient data – practices that will change the future of healthcare delivery. Dr. Asma Al Mannaei, Executive Director of the DOH Research and Innovation Center, encouraged companies to bring genomics, oncology, chronic diseases, and rare diseases research to Abu Dhabi, where they can find a portal to the broader region. Dr. Farida Al Hosany, Executive Director of the Communicable Diseases Sector at the DOH, stressed the U.A.E.’s desire to work with the international community to build the infrastructure necessary to combat future pandemics, the risk of which is increasing over time and with the impacts of climate change.

H.E. Al Mansoori also discussed the digitization of healthcare, and health and patient data. He explained Abu Dhabi’s position on healthcare data sovereignty while stressing the importance of receiving feedback from industry. Ashish Koshy, CEO of M42, the recently announced collaboration between Mubadala Health and G42 Healthcare, emphasized the power of large data sets for healthcare research. He underscored the importance of sharing data insights between the private and public sectors to identify and respond to public health trends. He also highlighted G42’s partnerships with Illumina, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services, companies which also participated in the lunch.

H.E. Al Mansoori and his team described the U.A.E.’s efforts to increase the environmental sustainability of the healthcare sector, as the U.A.E. is gearing up to host COP 28 in November 2023. Dr. Farida Al Hosany detailed the U.A.E.’s work related to heat-stress illnesses, vector-borne diseases, and other burdens that climate change poses to human health. The delegation encouraged U.S. businesses to get involved with COP 28, which will be a “COP for All” and a “COP of Action”, as outlined by COP 28 President-Delegate H.E. Dr. Sultan Al Jaber.

Other members of the delegation included representatives from Mubadala, which is seeking to build long-term strategic investment partnerships to achieve the goals of the Abu Dhabi government in the healthcare sector; Pure Health, which recently announced a major deal with U.S.-based Ardent Health Services; and Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO), which offers support to foreign companies looking to invest in Abu Dhabi. Representatives of these companies shared insights into their priorities for attracting partnerships, investment, and collaboration with industry in pursuit of Abu Dhabi’s long-term healthcare strategy.

Following their visit to Washington, D.C., the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi and the entire Abu Dhabi Life Sciences delegation will be exhibiting at the BIO Conference in Boston, Massachusetts, where the Business Council will convene a second event in honor of the delegation. For more information about the Business Council’s work in the healthcare sector, please contact Alyssa Kristeller at akristeller@usuaebusiness.org. Please click here for the Business Council’s latest version of our annual report of the U.A.E. healthcare market.