The core principles of the Research Center at Sheikh Shakhbout Medical City (SSMC) are based on the principles of Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA).
Defined by high-quality and compassionate patient care delivered in a multispecialty scholarly environment using the most advanced technology, SSMC envisions to become the leading integrated healthcare destination in the region.
We believe holistic and transformational health care solutions can only be delivered through excellence in three shields – clinical practice, education, and patient-centered medical research. Research, in particular, serves as the tool to develop new methodologies, medications, and devices tailored to the patients’ needs.
Present Day
SSMC’s Research Center is paving the way for groundbreaking discoveries, innovative techniques, and advanced treatments by:
- Conducting clinical trials and investigator-initiated studies in the departments of Neurology, Gastroenterology, Hematology/Oncology, Ophthalmology, and Cardiology.
- Assembling multiple comprehensive patient registries in different medical departments to generate hypotheses and provide basic tools to the investigators to perform cutting-edge clinical trials.
In 2021 alone, our investigators from SSMC published more than 160 papers in peer-reviewed journals, including The New England Journal of Medicine.
Furthermore, 33 research studies were approved by the Research Ethics Board (REB) and Research Ethics Committee (REC). These studies include AI-based research, which is a priority area for SSMC which was the first in the Middle East to implement AI-based methodology for patient care.
In 2022, the research center is set to expand significantly and will include scientists, multiple clinical research coordinators (CRC), biostatistician(s), epidemiologist(s) operational managers, and other teams from various departments including legal, finance, information technology (IT) and grants/patent office.
The Future
We plan to develop a dedicated research building designed explicitly for interventional studies and trials. The building will include multiple patient wards and a fully dedicated ward for phase 1 clinical trials. In addition, a “data trials unit” will be designed to utilize technological advancements for research for patient care including machine learning (AI technology), wearable devices (IoT), medical robotics, nanotechnology, and a medical metaverse.
With our collaborations with Khalifa University College of Medicine and Health Sciences and Mayo Clinic, we intend to build and operate the Research Shield of SSMC in Abu Dhabi as the leading Research Center in the region. We aim to develop local talent, provide innovative medical therapies to the people of the UAE (for which they currently have to travel abroad), and establish/ develop cutting-edge medical discoveries and inventions from within the UAE.
Contacts
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For inquiries regarding clinical trials at SSMC, please contact [email protected]. This includes queries on whether you are eligible for enrolling in clinical trials at SSMC.
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For consenting patients or subjects already enrolled in clinical trials at SSMC:
- If you have questions on the ethics (REC/IRB) of the research studies you are involved in, please contact [email protected]
- If you have inquiries regarding your research team or study, you can contact an independent Research Subject Advocate (RSA) at [email protected]
