Dr. Habiba Al Safar
Director of Khalifa University Center for Biotechnology and an Professor at the Biomedical Engineering Department in Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Habiba Al Safar is an Emirati research scholar who has a wealth of professional and educational experience. She obtained her Bachelor of Science (BSc) in biochemistry at San Diego State University, United States of America and later her Master of Science (MSc) in Medical Engineering at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom. She subsequently obtained her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Medical and Forensic Science at the University of Western Australia in Australia. She has since completed a one-year Global Clinical Scholars Research Training program at Harvard Medical School. Her research interest is constructing the genomic structures of individuals of Arab descent to identify genomic segments that carry gene(s) that predispose to disease. Specifically, addressing diseases that are increasing in prevalence amongst the local communities of the UAE. Dr. Al Safar has identified a gene strongly associated with the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes among the Emirati population. This is the first Genome Wide Association Study of the UAE Bedouin population and first of its kind in the Middle East.
Her passion for genome has led to the description of the first whole genome sequence of Emirati subjects, insights into the genetic diversity of the population of the UAE and most recently, the description of a reference genome for the UAE population.
The Biomedical Science Discovery (BISDI)
The characterization of the UAE genome to personalize medicine
Abu Dhabi Precision Medicine Virtual Research Institute (ADPMVRI)
Wheat Landraces as Future Potential Genetic Resource for Sustainability in Production, Food and Nutritional Security in UAE
Detection and quantification of SARS-CoV-2 levels in municipal wastewater as a method of tracking the epidemic
Molecular Dissection of Inherited Genetic Basis of Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) in Arab Patients by Using Next Generation Sequencing Methods
Role of Gene Polymorphisms in Endometriosis in Women of Arab Ancestry
Individualizing treatment modalities and the genomics of cardiovascular disease in the UAE
