UAE launches $50m stroke institute with John Hopkins

The UAE has provided a $50m gift to launch the Sheikh Khalifa Stroke Institute in partnership with US private research university John Hopkins.

The funds will be used to drive forward advances in engineering, artificial intelligence and precision medicine to better diagnose, treat and restore function to stroke patients, according to UAE state news agency WAM.

It is believed to be the largest ever gift for a stroke-specific initiative.

“We are grateful for the UAE’s gift, which enables us to leverage our considerable strengths in neurology, physical medicine and rehabilitation in combination with our expertise in biomedical engineering and patient safety to develop new tools for stroke diagnosis, treatment and recovery,” said John Hopkins Medicine CEO and managing director and dean of the medical faculty Paul Rothman.

“These efforts will improve the health of millions of people in Baltimore, the UAE and around the world, with the added benefit of bringing down health care costs.”

The new institute, with locations in Abu Dhabi and Baltimore, will house two centres of excellence focusing on new research and patient care efforts.

The research centre will analyse the genetic underpinnings of strokes and develop new interventions that could include digital neurological exams, automated bedside diagnosis or new imaging techniques.

The stroke treatment centre will focus on new approaches to get blood vessels to regrow, the delivery of drugs and medications past the blood-brain barrier and the stimulation of the brain to relearn movement after a stroke.

Around one third of people who have a stroke die each year, or 5.5 million people worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation.

The UAE has partnered with John Hopkins since the 1970s and the organisation has helped manage and oversee the Tawam, Al Rahba and Corniche hospitals.

A previous gift from UAE President HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2012 funded the Sheikh Zayed Tower art centre for adult care at John Hopkins.

The UAE leader underwent surgery in January 2014 after suffering a stroke.

Read: UAE Gives Assurances On President’s Health After Stroke