Abu Dhabi establishes cutting-edge Biobank to transform preventive healthcare

UAE—Abu Dhabi has inaugurated the Abu Dhabi Biobank, a landmark health platform that links biological samples with genomic, lifestyle, and clinical data to enable earlier disease detection and more personalised patient care.

The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH) and health technology company M42 developed the facility through a strategic partnership, reflecting a broader shift in healthcare philosophy—from treating illness after it strikes to identifying and managing risk before it escalates.

The inauguration took place in the presence of senior figures, including Mansoor Ibrahim Al Mansoori, Chairman of the DoH; Dr Noura Al Ghaithi, Undersecretary of the DoH; Dimitris Moulavasilis, Group Chief Executive Officer of M42; and Dr Fahed Al Marzooqi, Chief Executive Officer of M42’s Integrated Health Solutions platform.

Representatives from leading healthcare providers, research institutions, universities, and global industry partners also attended.

What the Biobank offers

Situated in Masdar City, the net-zero facility ranks among the region’s most advanced health data infrastructure.

It can store more than 100,000 cord blood samples and up to 5 million biological samples, creating a rich, diverse resource for medical research and clinical applications.

 The biobank operates as a living platform, continuously integrating biological samples with real-world health data to support both disease prevention and scientific research.

The launch introduces two major capabilities.

The first is a pan-human biobank that connects biological samples with longitudinal clinical, genomic, and lifestyle data at scale.

The second is a national eye bank that strengthens local transplantation capacity and reduces Abu Dhabi’s dependence on imported tissue—a meaningful step toward greater health self-sufficiency.

Data, Diversity, and Precision Medicine

Dr. Noura Al Ghaithi noted that healthcare is shifting from reactive disease management to anticipatory and preventive care.

She explained that the Abu Dhabi Biobank drives this shift by connecting data, science, and care in ways that tangibly improve lives.

This will enable earlier risk detection, more personalised treatment, and better outcomes for the community, while also contributing to global medical progress.

One of the biobank’s most distinctive features is its population diversity.

Drawing on residents representing more than 200 nationalities, it generates insights that reflect real-world human variation far more accurately than many existing biobanks, thereby improving the relevance and effectiveness of medical innovation globally.

Moulavasilis described the biobank as a critical step toward building a health system that is more proactive, precise, and data-driven.

He added that by combining biological samples, artificial intelligence, genomics, and real-world data, the platform enables faster insights and better clinical decisions at scale.