Scientists from Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU) have played a crucial role in Dubai's fight against the pandemic through their viral genomic surveillance research.
The Dubai Health Authority (DHA), the Genomic Center in Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital and the scientists at MBRU collaborated to understand how the virus mutates when passed from person to person, over a period of weeks and months.
The virus's genomic fingerprint was also used to track the origin, spread and possible mutations of the virus within a population.
Through the data collected, Dubai was able to make decisions to help curb the pandemic.
A method for large-scale genomic surveillance of the virus was developed, which was used to identify the origin and distinguishing modes of transmission in Dubai and the UAE.
The study also used factors including age, gender and health conditions to see how the virus might affect, and the severity.
The results of the study have now been published in several journals, for reference to the academic and medical community.
Dr Ahmad Abou Tayoun, Director of Genomics Center, Al Jalila Children's Specialty Hospital, Associate Professor of Genetics at MBRU said, “This research was instrumental in tracing origins of the virus early on in the UAE, identifying problem areas, and providing vital inputs on the scale, intensity, and scope of the response to the pandemic. Given Dubai’s geographic position and role as a bridge between the East and the West, the findings of our research have also helped calibrate and tweak frontline strategies in the global response to the pandemic.”