When Dr Yendry Ventura began work to set up the Abu Dhabi Stem Cell Centre in late 2018, there was, he says, nothing else "related to stem cell therapy” in the emirate.
Fast forward to today and the situation has changed dramatically. After opening in December last year, the centre has already received international press coverage over to its research into a treatment for Covid-19.
Their groundbreaking work has involved taking stem cells from a patient’s blood and returning them, via a nebuliser, as a fine mist to the lungs.
There they help regenerate lung cells and improve the body's immune response by preventing an overreaction to the infection that can damage healthy cells.
What characterises the method, says Dr Ventura, is that very little manipulation of the cells is needed for the treatment to be effective.
The future for the stem cells lies in regenerative medicine, in which you can treat almost all the degenerative conditions.
"We separate a specific layer of cells from the blood," Dr Ventura told The National. "We're the first one to use these cells with this route with this method.
“We believe this way the cells can be aimed much better to the affected organs - the upper and lower respiratory tract.”
In April, the centre’s efforts to develop a Covid-19 treatment led to the recovery of all 73 patients the treatment was initially trialled on. A quarter had been in intensive care.
The results appeared so promising that this month the centre secured intellectual property rights to the technique, allowing the treatment to be widely licensed, including to facilities abroad.
The ongoing work exemplifies how the centre’s specialists have been able to apply their expertise “to help in a time of crisis”, Dr Ventura said.
But the new research is a departure from the facility’s usual purpose, which involves developing cutting-edge stem cell treatments for conditions such as cancer and heart disease.
Stem cells were first extracted from humans and grown in laboratories less than a quarter of a century ago.
The human body is mostly made of specialised cell types, such as heart muscle cells, kidney cells or nerve cells, all of which have a particular form related to their function.
Stem cells, however, have not yet undergone the process of developing into a specialised cell type, and are able to be manipulated to perform a specific function.
In adults, stem cells are found in tissues including fat and bone marrow, and these can be turned into cell types.
One technique that the Abu Dhabi Stem Cell Centre plans to implement is haematopoietic stem cell transplantation, which involves stem cells being removed from an individual who is due to have cancer treatment.
The cells are then processed in a laboratory and injected into the patient after they have undergone chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
In this way, they can replace stem cells destroyed by the treatment, allowing a patient to tolerate a higher dose of therapy.
Dr Ventura says that similar treatments were applicable to most cancers of the blood as well as cancers that produce solid tumours.
“There are many of these therapies still in research stage, but if you conquer this research, you can have a programme in which you can ... treat many kinds of cancers at the same time in one centre,” he said.
“The reality is that cell therapy is curing cancer … We need to improve this therapy and make it available for many other people.
“The future for the stem cells lies in regenerative medicine, in which you can treat almost all the degenerative conditions.
“You can create in the future, if you have the right technologies, even artificial organs.”
Set up with private sector funding in collaboration with the UAE authorities, the Abu Dhabi Stem Cell Centre works closely with experts at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City.
But the institution is keen to forge further partnerships with both public and private sector medical institutions.
Currently, it operates seven days a week and has more than 100 staff, including nurses, technicians and doctors who specialise in immunology, haematology, pathology, orthopaedics, urology and radiology.
In another initiative, the facility has recently begun running Minimal Residual Disease tests, which look at how many malignant cells remain in a patient’s blood or bone marrow.
These tests are useful for people with a variety of blood cancers, including lymphoma, leukaemia and myeloma. But they require fresh samples from the patient, so the lack of UAE testing facilities has, until now, required patients to travel abroad.
“We try to implement the tests here in the Abu Dhabi Stem Cell Centre so that the patient does not need to travel anymore,” said Dr Ventura.
SOUTH%20KOREA%20SQUAD
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THE DETAILS
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Director: Ron Howard
2/5
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
The view from The National
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
Types of policy
Term life insurance: this is the cheapest and most-popular form of life cover. You pay a regular monthly premium for a pre-agreed period, typically anything between five and 25 years, or possibly longer. If you die within that time, the policy will pay a cash lump sum, which is typically tax-free even outside the UAE. If you die after the policy ends, you do not get anything in return. There is no cash-in value at any time. Once you stop paying premiums, cover stops.
Whole-of-life insurance: as its name suggests, this type of life cover is designed to run for the rest of your life. You pay regular monthly premiums and in return, get a guaranteed cash lump sum whenever you die. As a result, premiums are typically much higher than one term life insurance, although they do not usually increase with age. In some cases, you have to keep up premiums for as long as you live, although there may be a cut-off period, say, at age 80 but it can go as high as 95. There are penalties if you don’t last the course and you may get a lot less than you paid in.
Critical illness cover: this pays a cash lump sum if you suffer from a serious illness such as cancer, heart disease or stroke. Some policies cover as many as 50 different illnesses, although cancer triggers by far the most claims. The payout is designed to cover major financial responsibilities such as a mortgage or children’s education fees if you fall ill and are unable to work. It is cost effective to combine it with life insurance, with the policy paying out once if you either die or suffer a serious illness.
Income protection: this pays a replacement income if you fall ill and are unable to continue working. On the best policies, this will continue either until you recover, or reach retirement age. Unlike critical illness cover, policies will typically pay out for stress and musculoskeletal problems such as back trouble.
Match info
Arsenal 0
Manchester City 2
Sterling (14'), Bernardo Silva (64')
Boulder shooting victims
• Denny Strong, 20
• Neven Stanisic, 23
• Rikki Olds, 25
• Tralona Bartkowiak, 49
• Suzanne Fountain, 59
• Teri Leiker, 51
• Eric Talley, 51
• Kevin Mahoney, 61
• Lynn Murray, 62
• Jody Waters, 65
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Results
5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Nadhra, Fabrice Veron (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: AF Dars, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: AF Musannef, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: AF Taghzel, Malin Holmberg, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: M’Y Yaromoon, Khalifa Al Neyadi, Jesus Rosales
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (PA) 1,400m; Winner: Hakeem, Jim Crowley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
The specs: 2018 Nissan Patrol Nismo
Price: base / as tested: Dh382,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 428hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 3,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
The years Ramadan fell in May
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Medicus AI
Started: 2016
Founder(s): Dr Baher Al Hakim, Dr Nadine Nehme and Makram Saleh
Based: Vienna, Austria; started in Dubai
Sector: Health Tech
Staff: 119
Funding: €7.7 million (Dh31m)
Race 3
Produced: Salman Khan Films and Tips Films
Director: Remo D’Souza
Cast: Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Bobby Deol, Daisy Shah, Saqib Salem
Rating: 2.5 stars
Zayed Sustainability Prize
High profile Al Shabab attacks
- 2010: A restaurant attack in Kampala Uganda kills 74 people watching a Fifa World Cup final football match.
- 2013: The Westgate shopping mall attack, 62 civilians, five Kenyan soldiers and four gunmen are killed.
- 2014: A series of bombings and shootings across Kenya sees scores of civilians killed.
- 2015: Four gunmen attack Garissa University College in northeastern Kenya and take over 700 students hostage, killing those who identified as Christian; 148 die and 79 more are injured.
- 2016: An attack on a Kenyan military base in El Adde Somalia kills 180 soldiers.
- 2017: A suicide truck bombing outside the Safari Hotel in Mogadishu kills 587 people and destroys several city blocks, making it the deadliest attack by the group and the worst in Somalia’s history.
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
