ABU DHABI, 13th May, 2026 (WAM) — The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DoH), regulator of the healthcare sector in the emirate, together with the Abu Dhabi Public Health Centre (ADPHC), today announced the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Centre (Fred Hutch), one of the world’s leading cancer research institutions and home to three Nobel laureates, to explore collaborative engagements that will advance cancer research, personalised prevention and precision medicine.
During a recent visit to Fred Hutch’s Seattle campus, Mansoor Ibrahim Al Mansoori, Chairman of the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, met with Dr. Thomas J. Lynch, President and Director of Fred Hutch, alongside the institution’s senior scientific and clinical leaders to chart the joint path forward.
This MoU is aligned with Abu Dhabi’s commitment to building one of the world’s most intelligent, integrated and people-first health systems. By pairing Abu Dhabi’s unified clinical and genomic data infrastructure, sovereign AI capabilities and governed data environments with Fred Hutch’s globally renowned research engine, the ensuing collaborations will pave the way to shortening the distance between scientific discovery and patient benefit, for Abu Dhabi’s community and beyond.
Among the projected collaborations, the two organisations will consider leveraging Abu Dhabi’s intelligent health system, and layering Fred Hutch’s world-class science onto the secure, high-quality, real-world data foundation Abu Dhabi has built. That foundation includes the emirate’s pioneering liquid biopsy programme launched last year, one of the first national-scale efforts of its kind anywhere in the world. Alongside Abu Dhabi’s AI multi-cancer early detection work, and the world’s largest clinically integrated population-scale genomics programme – with nearly one million genomes sequence.
During his visit to the centre, Mansoor Ibrahim Al Mansoori commented, “Cancer is one of the defining health challenges of our time, and progress depends on combining world-class science with population-scale data, advanced AI, and research. In Abu Dhabi, we have built an AI-enabled health system that ‘cares before it cures, delivering prevention at population scale. We are already achieving some of the highest early cancer detection rates in the world, and through our partnership with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Centre we are committed to bringing breakthroughs to people in Abu Dhabi and beyond.”
Together, the parties will work together to design protocols that advance ambitious goals, such as advancing multi-omics oncology research, accelerating earlier and more precise cancer detection, developing digital health solution using AI, and designing prevention and education programmes built around the people of Abu Dhabi. For residents of Abu Dhabi, this means earlier detection, more personalised treatment and better outcomes, closer to home. For the global research community, it signals what is possible when a uniquely advanced health system, one designed end to end around data, AI and the patient, partners with a world-renowned institution like Fred Hutch on the cancer challenges that matter most.
“This MoU between Fred Hutch Cancer Centre and the Abu Dhabi Department of Health underscores the power of working together to prevent and treat cancer,” said Thomas Lynch Jr., MD, president and director of Fred Hutch and holder of the Raisbeck Endowed Chair. “Our organisations share a deep commitment to research and to provide the highest levels of cancer prevention, diagnosis and care to our communities, and we are excited to bring our expertise, tools and datasets together to identify unique approaches to cancer care and research in pursuit of our boldest goals.”
This partnership is part of Abu Dhabi’s long-term agenda in health, advanced technology and life sciences, helping people, live longer more fulling lives.
Source: Emirates News Agency