Research Institute of Medical & Health Sciences
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Bioinformatics and Functional Genomics
The Bioinformatics and Functional Genomics Research group is an interdisciplinary research group established in 2018 in RIMHS, University of Sharjah. The key focus of the group is to understand the molecular mechanisms and to identify early diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of chronic complex human diseases including but not limited to, cancer, endocrine and inflammatory diseases using multi- platform OMICs technologies (genomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, proteomics, metabolomics and metagenomics). In order to achieve this goal, the research group aims to develop novel bioinformatics algorithms and/or tools and efficient research workflow for bioinformatic integration and analysis of datasets from multi-OMICs platforms. The ultimate goal of our work is to provide innovative solutions for environmental, health and food issues. Partly, the group extends the focus on environmental sustainability issues, a current scientific policy of the region, where the complexity of the UAE native plants and cellular response to harsh environmental stresses has been addressed using novel genomic technology.
Several studies have highlighted the significance of neuroscience in the educational and learning experiences which are strongly associated with neural changes in response to various learning tasks (neuroplasticity) and production of new neurons (neurogenesis). It is evident that the involvement of multiple brain regions and recruitment of substantial number of neurons to support the learning experiences are associated with higher functions such as memory and executive function.
The control of the centralized brain reaches beyond the CNS and influences various reactions via sophisticated networks including spinal cord and neuroendocrine systems. These systems establish informed bodily decisions about several stimuli including stress and manipulate the awareness and production of appropriate responses. Dysfunction of the neural systems at any level jeopardizes the critical involvement of the CNS in tuning of a wide range of vital neurophysiological, behavioral and neurocognitive processes. The global burden of the neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders has been fully appreciated by several international health organizations given the serious consequences for individuals, their families, and the healthcare systems. Specifically, neuropsychiatric disorders are the leading cause of disability in the United States, accounting for almost 19% of all years of life lost due to disability and premature death. Depression affects nearly 300 million people globally, and suicide as one of its worst outcomes, it is the second leading cause of death in 15-29-year-old individuals. Overall, nearly 800,000 people of all ages worldwide die by suicide every year. Among the population in the UAE, the prevalence of depression is reported to be 12.5–28.6% and depression has been shown to be one of the top three causes of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) as per the Global Burden of Disease study (GBD Profile: United Arab Emirates, 2010).
Worldwide, more than 50 million people are living with dementia and every 3 seconds there is a new case of dementia and the projection for dementia and other neurological disorders is alarming. Compared to the rest of the world, few studies in the United Arab Emirates have focused on the pathogenesis and the prevalence of these disorders and this accounts for the limited advances in research and implementation of specialized care and management plans in the clinical practice.
The pathophysiological mechanisms underlying brain disorders range from disruption of molecular pathways and homeostatic neural environment to dysfunctional communication between higher-order neural networks. In this context, sustained neuroinflammation is a common hallmark shared by a large spectrum of incurable disorders including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, and migraine. Prevention and development of effective treatments represents a challenge due to the lack of knowledge about the processes driving the etiology, pathogenesis, and progression of these diseases.
Recognizing the necessity of advanced research in this field, we, as faculty members at the medical, pharmacy and health science colleges at University of Sharjah and University Hospital Sharjah, aim at launching a "Neurosciences and Neuropsychiatry Research Group" that will examine diverse aspects of CNS research at the basic and clinical levels.
Biomedical and Molecular Imaging
One of the most important priorities facing modern societies is the well-being and health care of most people who will need advanced medical imaging services at some stage in their lives. Medical imaging is needed for the accurate diagnosis and treatment of a wide spectrum of diseases. Current developments in medical imaging technology face ever-increasing pressures and shifting goals. From increasing population size and increasing average age to increased care expectations, linked to inflating financial costs and unpredictable economic status, medical imaging technology has continued to improve its ability in the detection, diagnosis, staging of disease and indeed in guiding therapy. Developments included not only increasing both spatial and temporal resolution, but also reduced level of ionizing radiation, and therefore better safety standards, the invention of new modalities, the development of new contrast agents and biomarkers at the molecular level. For example, functional imaging has helped to shed light on molecular features of biological, physiologic, and pathophysiologic processes. Looking backward, imaging sciences have advanced strongly at ever-increasing rates from the early days of X-ray imaging. The spread of highly sophisticated imaging techniques that are capable of interrogating 3-dimensional tissues non-invasively and providing valuable information about tissue composition and function are remarkable achievements. The degree of experimental precision and resolution has led to new areas of research cohesively and strongly allied to medical imaging especially in nanotechnology and molecular biology leading ultimately, perhaps, to individualized diagnosis and treatment.
Cardiovascular Research Group
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading causes of morbidity and/or mortality in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and, worldwide. Despite therapeutic advancement, the frequency of CVDs including vascular dysfunction, ischemic and hypertensive cardiac diseases are increasing at an alarming rate, largely due to lack of awareness and sedentary lifestyle.
Poorly defined molecular mechanisms of CVDs largely responsible for the limited therapeutic efficacy of the available pharmacological intervention. This necessitates the need of detail pathomechanisms investigation and, novel molecular targets to design better therapies to combat CVDs. The cardiovascular Research (CVR) group aims to plug in the gap in our understanding of CVDs by performing detailed phenotypic and molecular characterization of these diseases in various settings.
Several studies have highlighted the significance of neuroscience in the educational and learning experiences which are strongly associated with neural changes in response to various learning tasks (neuroplasticity) and production of new neurons (neurogenesis). It is evident that the involvement of multiple brain regions and recruitment of substantial number of neurons to support the learning experiences are associated with higher functions such as memory and executive function.
The control of the centralized brain reaches beyond the CNS and influences various reactions via sophisticated networks including spinal cord and neuroendocrine systems. These systems establish informed bodily decisions about several stimuli including stress and manipulate the awareness and production of appropriate responses. Dysfunction of the neural systems at any level jeopardizes the critical involvement of the CNS in tuning of a wide range of vital neurophysiological, behavioral and neurocognitive processes. The global burden of the neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders has been fully appreciated by several international health organizations given the serious consequences for individuals, their families, and the healthcare systems. Specifically, neuropsychiatric disorders are the leading cause of disability in the United States, accounting for almost 19% of all years of life lost due to disability and premature death. Depression affects nearly 300 million people globally, and suicide as one of its worst outcomes, it is the second leading cause of death in 15-29-year-old individuals. Overall, nearly 800,000 people of all ages worldwide die by suicide every year. Among the population in the UAE, the prevalence of depression is reported to be 12.5–28.6% and depression has been shown to be one of the top three causes of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) as per the Global Burden of Disease study (GBD Profile: United Arab Emirates, 2010).
Worldwide, more than 50 million people are living with dementia and every 3 seconds there is a new case of dementia and the projection for dementia and other neurological disorders is alarming. Compared to the rest of the world, few studies in the United Arab Emirates have focused on the pathogenesis and the prevalence of these disorders and this accounts for the limited advances in research and implementation of specialized care and management plans in the clinical practice.
The pathophysiological mechanisms underlying brain disorders range from disruption of molecular pathways and homeostatic neural environment to dysfunctional communication between higher-order neural networks. In this context, sustained neuroinflammation is a common hallmark shared by a large spectrum of incurable disorders including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, and migraine. Prevention and development of effective treatments represents a challenge due to the lack of knowledge about the processes driving the etiology, pathogenesis, and progression of these diseases.
Recognizing the necessity of advanced research in this field, we, as faculty members at the medical, pharmacy and health science colleges at University of Sharjah and University Hospital Sharjah, aim at launching a "Neurosciences and Neuropsychiatry Research Group" that will examine diverse aspects of CNS research at the basic and clinical levels.
Clinical Epidimiology
The rising problem of chronic diseases has been well documented and the burden from these diseases represent a major threat to human health and development. Chronic diseases such as cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (asthma), diabetes and cardiovascular diseases have been labeled as the world's leading killers by the WHO and are likely to continue rising globally. This is no different for the United Arab Emirates where factors such as globalization, genetic, cultural and environmental variations may contribute significantly to the rise of chronic diseases locally and regionally. However, despite the alarming increase, there are gaps in our knowledge of the true burden from chronic diseases in the UAE, especially identifying those most at risk of developing diseases and specific risk factors associated with these diseases. Information on the short- and long-term consequences of chronic diseases and the effectiveness and safety of current practices is also scarce.
The role of the clinical epidemiology research group is to conduct large-scale long-term research into the epidemiology of diseases (such as respiratory diseases, diabetes, cancer, mental health and periodontal diseases) and to derive population specific incidence rates and prevalence, investigate the biological, social and psychosomatic factors underlying and associated with health and lifestyle behaviors as well as identify genetic and environmental risks.
Dental Biomaterials and Biomimetic
Dental Biomaterials and Biomimetics Research Group is a newly established interdisciplinary research group at the University of Sharjah, College of Dental Medicine and Research Institute For Medical and Health Sciences. Our main aim is to develop novel natural or synthetic materials and strategies that drive the tissue repair process. We also aim to understand the interaction of biomaterials with the cellular environment to optimize tissue regeneration. Furthermore, we are using new technologies such as artificial intelligence and 3D printing to address a wide variety of clinical challenges and commercial opportunities.
Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders
Diabetes and metabolic syndrome are distinctly the most important health concern of current time. Our mission is to conduct excellent multi-disciplinary research aimed to bring down diabetes mellitus and its related complications. We in the diabetes and metabolic syndrome research group are trying to understand the disease cause well enough for designing novel treatment strategies. The members of diabetes and metabolic research group are targeting the diabetes and its complications in all angles including epidemiological, molecular and genetic aspects. Our research aims to understand the prevalence, predictors, prevention, treatment and management of diabetes and its complications at local, regional and international levels.
Drug Delivery
The "Drug Delivery" research group seeks to find creative and innovative solutions to the current challenges limiting the therapeutic efficiency of many drugs such as low solubility, low permeability, low efficacy and high toxicity and resulting in poor patient compliance. We aim to develop novel platforms and smart delivery systems that ensure the effective delivery and tolerability of different marketed and new drugs in order to contribute to the overall enhancement of disease management and human health and to increase the cost effectiveness of such treatments.
Drug Design and Discovery
The Drug Design & Discovery (DD & D) research group is a model of collaboration between different fields and integrating lines of research aiming at developing new agents that can be used for management of dangerous chronic diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. The chemical entities developed by the medicinal chemists using computational programs and different chemical synthesis methods in the medicinal chemistry labs are tested for their biological activities and molecular mechanisms by the pharmacologists in the molecular pharmacology lab. The best active compounds are selected for further kinetics, safety, and in-vivo studies. Moreover, the group is interested in studying the molecular mechanisms of cancer metastasis and resistance of cancer cells to cancer therapeutics aiming at developing mechanisms/agents that overcome this resistance. The group has many internally and externally funded projects and has collaborated with many regional and international institutions. Many graduate students have done (are doing) the practical part of their thesis in the labs of the group.
Environment and Cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases caused by a combination of genetic and environmental or behavioural factors. The Environment and Cancer Research Group seeks to investigate the role of different environmental factors and to identify novel therapeutic modalities. We intend to investigate the molecular effects of common environmental toxins on human cells, their relationship to cancer development, and the signalling pathways involved in the development of different cancers. The impact of various cancer risk factors, such as obesity and the presence of other chronic noncommunicable diseases, is also investigated. In addition, the effect of dietary chemopreventive action of some nutritional elements on cancer is being studied in our group.
Health and Workforce Studies
Ensuring healthy, happy and empowered employees is essential for maximizing the productivity of the workforce and the overall competitiveness of any organization. It is also a prerequisite for offering exceptional customer experience across the various sectors of the economy. Unfortunately, many organizations provide their employees suboptimal physical, psychological and professional work environments, which jeopardizes employee safety, retention and productivity. A plethora of investigations (globally and in the UAE) have uncovered various degrees of stress, burnout, exposure to occupational hazards, as well as a team and work-life conflicts. The Covid-19 pandemic further exacerbated the centrality of this line of investigation with the exposure of the workforce to unprecedented degrees of uncertainty, occupational risk and work-related stress. If such issues are not properly investigated and addressed, they would lead to absenteeism, poor productivity, occupational conflicts and eventually to turnover. The pandemic also has demonstrated the importance of adequate, stable, and resilient workforce (especially healthcare workforce) to ensuring business continuity, as well as employees' health and productivity. Given the importance of the issues mentioned earlier, we propose the establishment of the "Health and Workforce Studies" Research Group that aims to investigate health and workforce issues systematically. In addition, we will focus on action oriented-research aiming at making a sustainable difference in the work environment of various organizations in the UAE, especially in the Emirate of Sharjah. The importance of this research group is further supported by the nature of workforce in the UAE, which emanates from various cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds and in educational preparation and experience. This complex nature leads to similar complexity in managing, maintaining and building a healthy work environment for this workforce. This requires an evidence based approach and the proposed research group is set to contribute to this task.
The United Arab Emirates have indicated in all of its strategy documents the support of leadership for establishing a healthy, happy and productive economy. For example, two out of the ten principles outlined in the “principles for the next fifty of the UAE", specifically the fourth principle related to building, attracting and retaining skills within state institutions, and the sixth principle, which aims to raise the reputation of the UAE by building institutions with international standards are served by the proposed research group. At the Emirate of Sharjah, establishing a healthy and supportive work environment is a key priority for multiple agencies. For example, the Sharjah Supreme Council for Family Affairs is proposing a strategic partnership with the Colleges of Health Sciences at the University of Sharjah to establish an implement the “Wazn" program which aims at catalyzing and improving a healthy work environment in the Emirate.
The “Health and Workforce Studies Research Group" aims at investigating three key questions:
What is the current state of the physical, psychological and professional wellness in various sectors of the economy in the UAE, with a focus on the Emirate or Sharjah? What is the effect of COVID-19 on the wellbeing of individuals and organization?
Which evidence based policy and practice recommendations/interventions would be necessary for the establishment of a work environment supportive of the physical, psychological and professional well-being of employees?
How to effectively implement such interventions to make a swift and sustainable positive difference in the work environment?
The scope of work environment investigations is wide and generally fall under three main areas:
The physical health/environment: ergonomics of the workplace, the absence of pollutants, air quality, sleeping patterns, nutrition and healthy eating habits, physical activity, smoking cessation programs, regular checkups, etc.
The psychological environment: Anxiety, stress, burnout, depression, work-life balance, resilience, etc.
The professional environment/supportive systems: leadership, programs, systems, strategies, policies and procedures, evaluation framework/KPIs, incentive schemes, pandemic preparedness and infection control, etc.
Health Economics and Financing
The UAE government is committed to WHO's constitution stipulating that health is a basic right and is working towards the objectives of providing an accessible and equitable universal health care program for the country population. However, since 1971, the lifestyle of the local population has shifted from a traditional and semi-nomadic way of life to an urbanized regime causing a subsequent change in the population health and nature of illnesses in the country.
Nowadays, Cardiovascular disease, Cancers, Road traffic accidents and occupational injuries, mental health illnesses, respiratory illness, and diabetes are the top health problems facing the country. These are also the primary causes of premature death worldwide. Apart from that, the rapid population growth in the UAE coupled with the vast diversity of the cultural background of the and the healthcare workforce is adding up to the significant challenges that the government is facing to deliver efficient and effective health programs to improve the life of the population.
Health Promotion
The Health Promotion Research Group (HPRG) is a dedicated multidisciplinary team focusing on advancing knowledge and strategies in the field of health promotion. Our group is committed to conducting rigorous impactful research, formulating evidence-based interventions, and collaborating with various stakeholders to prevent diseases, promote health and well-being within communities and populations, and overall improve the nation's quality of life.
HPRG is actively engaged in a wide range of initiatives, events, and programs that aim to enhance the well-being and quality of life of the community members and to provide a comprehensive understanding of the community's health profile. Through these activities, we raise awareness about health-related matters, encourage healthier lifestyles, and empower individuals to make informed decisions about their health.
Human Disease Biomarkers discovery
Biomarkers are biomolecules that are associated with or inform about physiological processes, diseases, and so on. There is an urgent need to identify novel biomarkers that are first and foremost informative about a specific disease (or a set of diseases) and the majority of them are applicable to the target population. Proteomics and metabolomics methodologies are now the foundation of fundamental and translational biomedical research all over the world. The use of proteomics and metabolomics in the search for disease biomarkers, on the other hand, will continue to advance drug development and personalized therapy in the future. A panel of novel protein/metabolite sensitive biomarkers will undoubtedly be a valuable bio-molecular resource for effectively monitoring drug treatment and accurately assessing the efficacy of new drugs/therapies (including the nature inspired compound library available at the Sharjah Institute for Medical Research (SIMR)).
Immuno-Oncology
The “Immuno-Oncology" group is a unique research group in the UAE that focuses on understanding the cancer microenvironment and in particular, the crosstalk between immune and tumor cells. Additionally, our group focuses on the epigenetic regulation of carcinogenesis, as well as the therapeutic targeting of autoimmune diseases.
Improving Healthcare Delivery and Medicine Use
This interdisciplinary research group will forge a unique platform through which we will investigate health-related issues in primary and secondary care settings and translate those investigations into improved health services, designing models of care that optimize health outcomes and health care delivery for people in the UAE. Our approach to achieve these goals of care is to create a dedicated research team to identify pressing national and regional health needs, design studies to understand those needs and find innovative culturally-appropriate health services and strategies to improve health care delivery.
Infectious disease and anti-infective therapy
Infectious diseases continue to be among the most serious public health problems around the world and UAE mainly because of (i) There is no updated surveillance systems maintained in large parts of the world in particular the developing countries, (ii) International travel and migration in the Gulf region, and (iii) Numerous outbreaks of drug- resistant microbes were documented around the world. Therefore, our group has been established in 2017 to provide the community with accurate data and complimentary information in relation to infectious diseases with special focus on the UAE.
Iron Biology
Iron is critical for the growth and survival of almost all cells in living organisms. Due to its ability to function as a co-factor for a wide range of proteins, iron plays a key role in cell growth, replication, and metabolism in the human body. However, excess accumulation of free iron can induce reactive oxygen species (ROS) via the Fenton reaction causing significant cellular damage, which could precipitate various pathologies including carcinogenesis. Therefore, patients suffering from diseases that associate with significant iron overload, such as hemochromatosis, are at high risk of developing various forms of cancer including those of the breast, lung, colon, prostate, rectum as well as hepatocellular carcinoma.
Our research endeavors are directed towards investigating specific genes that undergo activation or suppression due to environmental influences, thereby contributing to the development of Breast, Gastric, Liver and Colorectal cancers. Up to this point, we have successfully identified numerous epigenetic markers, particularly associated with genes responsible for regulating iron levels within our cellular structures. These genes play a pivotal role in the initiation of these cancer types.
We have found that some environmental factors over time are disturbing the iron regulation process in our liver and intestinal cells, hence pushing them towards abnormal growth leading to cancer formation. Using this knowledge, we are now working towards targeting those epigenetic changes to make the cancer cells more sensitive towards the usual chemotherapy treatment; hence, making it much easier, and with fewer side effects to treat cancer patients. Moreover, as those epigenetic changes happen at very early stages of cancer development, we can use them to diagnose patients at high risk of cancer and start the treatment well before they reach the advanced stage.
Microbiota
Diverse communities of symbiotic microorganisms, predominantly bacteria, “Microbiota”, inhabit nearly every surface of the body exposed to the environment, in particular the skin, oral, and gut epithelium. Many studies have shown that microbiota composition, in particular in the intestine, strongly influences disease susceptibility. This applies to multiple inflammatory, metabolic, infectious, and neurodegenerative diseases. The Microbiota group plan to establish the infrastructure required to perform state of the art analysis of the microbiome at the University of Sharjah. In parallel the group will establish a collaborative network of clinicians, microbiologists, geneticists and bioinformaticians. The primary objective is to study the role of Microbiota in the pathogenesis of common diseases in the UAE. Additionally, will study the influence of the host genome on the composition of skin, oral and gut microbiota and how gene-microbiota interactions contribute to the pathogenesis of these diseases. Eventually we aim to identify defined bacterial "probiotic" species and their products for therapy of common diseases in the UAE.
Neuromusculoskeletal Rehabilitation
The Neuromusculoskeletal Rehabilitation group has a primary objective: to advance the assessment and treatment of musculoskeletal and neurological conditions in various populations, including athletes, individuals with spinal pain, and the elderly who are frail. Additionally, they aim to investigate the connection between these conditions and metabolic biomarkers. To achieve these goals, this research group is dedicated to conducting impactful research within their discipline and collaborating on interdisciplinary projects. They utilize innovative technologies like 3D-motion capture, force plates, electromyography, accelerometers, and near-infrared spectroscopy to support evidence-based rehabilitation practices. Furthermore, the group is involved in biochemical research to explore the relationship between metabolic diseases and physical and neurological disorders. Importantly, their objectives align with The WHO Rehabilitation 2030 initiative, which underscores the global need for improved rehabilitation services.
Neuroscience and Neuropsychiatric Diseases
Understanding the evolution of the brain and the central nervous system (CNS) has always been a key research interest as it reflects the importance of identification of mechanistic basis of crucial processes including learning, memory, perception and reactions in normal and dysfunctional conditions. This field of research has been well recognized for long time however several aspects of the connection and the communication between the neurons are yet to be identified. In addition, bridging the brain and mind and translating the neural mechanisms to neurocognitive functions represents the main pathway to draw futuristic prospects to understand the mental capacities.
Several studies have highlighted the significance of neuroscience in the educational and learning experiences which are strongly associated with neural changes in response to various learning tasks (neuroplasticity) and production of new neurons (neurogenesis). It is evident that the involvement of multiple brain regions and recruitment of substantial number of neurons to support the learning experiences are associated with higher functions such as memory and executive function.
The control of the centralized brain reaches beyond the CNS and influences various reactions via sophisticated networks including spinal cord and neuroendocrine systems. These systems establish informed bodily decisions about several stimuli including stress and manipulate the awareness and production of appropriate responses. Dysfunction of the neural systems at any level jeopardizes the critical involvement of the CNS in tuning of a wide range of vital neurophysiological, behavioral and neurocognitive processes. The global burden of the neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders has been fully appreciated by several international health organizations given the serious consequences for individuals, their families, and the healthcare systems. Specifically, neuropsychiatric disorders are the leading cause of disability in the United States, accounting for almost 19% of all years of life lost due to disability and premature death. Depression affects nearly 300 million people globally, and suicide as one of its worst outcomes, it is the second leading cause of death in 15-29-year-old individuals. Overall, nearly 800,000 people of all ages worldwide die by suicide every year. Among the population in the UAE, the prevalence of depression is reported to be 12.5–28.6% and depression has been shown to be one of the top three causes of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) as per the Global Burden of Disease study (GBD Profile: United Arab Emirates, 2010).
Worldwide, more than 50 million people are living with dementia and every 3 seconds there is a new case of dementia and the projection for dementia and other neurological disorders is alarming. Compared to the rest of the world, few studies in the United Arab Emirates have focused on the pathogenesis and the prevalence of these disorders and this accounts for the limited advances in research and implementation of specialized care and management plans in the clinical practice.
The pathophysiological mechanisms underlying brain disorders range from disruption of molecular pathways and homeostatic neural environment to dysfunctional communication between higher-order neural networks. In this context, sustained neuroinflammation is a common hallmark shared by a large spectrum of incurable disorders including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, and migraine. Prevention and development of effective treatments represents a challenge due to the lack of knowledge about the processes driving the etiology, pathogenesis, and progression of these diseases.
Recognizing the necessity of advanced research in this field, we, as faculty members at the medical, pharmacy and health science colleges at University of Sharjah and University Hospital Sharjah, aim at launching a "Neurosciences and Neuropsychiatry Research Group" that will examine diverse aspects of CNS research at the basic and clinical levels.
Nutrition and Food
The Nutrition and Food Research Group (NFRG) have an interdisciplinary-oriented research approach to address pertinent food and nutrition concerns in order to improve the health of the UAE community. The overall goal of NFRG is to contribute to the scientific knowledge base for nutrition and foods. Our research is focused mainly on applying vital principles from different sciences to foods and beverages for human consumption. The group also studies the safety, quality, and nutritional values of food with the aim of providing society with the safe and high nutritional quality of foods.
Operational Research and Integrated AI in Healthcare
Operational research is an analytical method of problem-solving and decision-making useful across all fields, including medicine. It allows for breaking down the essential components of problems followed by mathematical analysis of the defined steps. On the other hand, Artificial Intelligence can ease the lives of patients, doctors, and hospital administration. Artificial intelligence has countless applications in healthcare. Whether it is being used to discover links between genetic codes, to power surgical robots, or even to maximize hospital efficiency, artificial intelligence has been a boon to the healthcare industry. The advent of big data has made possible the use of big data to create information necessary to improve the decision-making processes of healthcare challenges. With the constant need to solve complex problems, operational research and artificial intelligence have proven consistent in creating implementable solutions to these challenges. Our research group will be geared towards solving critical healthcare challenges by applying artificial intelligence and Decision Analysis to diseases diagnosis, therapeutics, treatment error reduction, disease treatment and management, automation of medical processes, symptoms checker, early cancer detection, and medical service delivery. The group's research is centered on utilizing multidisciplinary studies (mathematics, computer science, public health, biomedical engineering, and medicine) to address the development of a high-performance medical data collection system and artificial intelligence to aid in the effective quantitative modeling and the application of the advanced analytical approach to enhance decision-making targeting essentially all health sectors and utilizing multi-criteria models.
Rare Genetic Disorders and Immune-dysregulation
The prevalence of rare genetic disorders in gulf region is high due to large family sizes, advanced maternal and paternal age, and high level of consanguinity in this area. These diseases have complex pathological presentation with no cure or standard treatment. While many of these conditions are typically rare, in aggregate they account for a considerable morbidity and mortality in the community.
Our research group will follow a systematic approach to characterize rare genetic variations underlying primary immune deficiencies and predisposing to severe infectious disease such as COVID-19. The unknown genetic disorders will undergo series of clinical and experimental studies to describe their phenotype and genotype and to unravel their underlying molecular mechanism. Multi-omics approach will be used to profile and map the immune dysregulation network, to identify diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, and to discover potential therapeutic targets. Precision medicine approach including drug repurposing, nanotechnology and genomics will be applied to find novel treatment for the identified and characterized genetic immune disorder.
Tissue Injury and Repair
The Tissue Injury and Repair Research (TIR group) combines a multidisciplinary team interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms regulating tissue injury during chronic inflammation. We specially focus on chronic inflammatory diseases prevalent in UAE such as Asthma, Cancer, Metabolic disorders, and cardiovascular diseases.
Virology and Parasitology
We aim to utilize One Health approach to tackle viral and parasitic infections of major significance.
Wound Healing and oral Diagnostics
Oral and craniofacial wound healing and oral Diagnostics is a very interesting and challenging area of dental science. Researching into the basic biological processes of oral regeneration often create more questions than answers and invites a cluster of a multidisciplinary team involving biochemist, pharmacist, pathologist, dentists, surgeons, nurses as well as researchers in oral medicine and biology to search for evidence in wound healing mechanism and its management. The fundamental concept under investigation is “how does bone and soft tissue heal"?
Oral diagnostics has evolved into a sophisticated science and serves as a subset of the larger field of molecular diagnostics, now recognized as a central player in a wide variety of biomedical basic and clinical areas. Molecular diagnostics feed into a wide range of disciplines including drug development, personalized medicine (pharmacogenomics) and plays a major role in the discovery of biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of oral cancer and other potentially malignant oral diseases .
Research Centers
Center of Excellence for Precision Medicine
Researchers of CEPM works in an integrative and multi-disciplinary setting to uncover many questions revolving around the causes, patterns, and treatment responses associated with various diseases including cancer, diabetes, asthma among others. They employ AI to define and understand the functions of gene products involved in various diseases. Ultimately, translate the research findings into diagnosis and treatment. Finally, the center investigators utilize state-of-the-art approaches in all phases of their work to develop AI-based innovations in all fields of human health and biology.
Center of Excellence for Public Health
The Center of Excellence for Public Health serves as a collaborative and interdisciplinary platform for research, education, training, and innovation in the field of public health. The center's primary focus is on improving public health outcomes through impactful and innovative research across different areas. It is comprised of seven research groups that cover core public health activities, such as health promotion, improving healthcare delivery and medicines use, health economics, health and workforce studies, clinical epidemiology, operational research and integrated AI in healthcare, and nutrition and food science. Each of these research groups is committed to contributing to the significant improvement of health outcomes in the UAE and the region by conducting research that addresses critical public health research priorities and implementing evidence-based interventions that promote health and prevent disease.
Center of Excellence for Cancer Research
The Research Institute of Medical & Health Sciences (RIMHS) at the University of Sharjah (UOS) is a leading research institution in the field of health and medicine. RIMHS is
committed to advancing medical knowledge and improving the health of people in the UAE and beyond.
Research Focus Areas
Precision Medicine
Cancer
Metabolic Disorders
Infectious Diseases
Public Health
Neuroscience
Dental Medicine
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