this was published as an article on Linkedin and copied here.
As an entrepreneur in precision medicine, I keep worrying about where can my AI-powered, precision liver medicine agenda truly find a home? It’s not just a strategic exercise-though the availability of investment, the spirit of innovation in medical communities, regulatory frameworks, the appetite for evidence, and the realities of reimbursement are all critical. Innovation needs users. But for me, it’s also a personal journey, shaped by the places I visit, the stories I hear at conferences, and the headlines that pop up on my LinkedIn feed. Every now and then, a scientific paper or a conversation with a clinician nudges my thinking in a new direction.
Europe is where I started, and where I still spend most of my time. The science is here, the talent is here, but the machinery of adoption is slow. Too many pilots, too many layers, and not enough momentum. I know the potential is real-particularly in cancer and rare diseases-but sometimes it feels like we’re all waiting for someone else to make the first move – maybe the whole continent is waiting for Godot!. And the reality is that Europe it’s not one market – it’s a collection of national and regional specificities, commercial territories, reimbursement realities. Maybe the UK will be different, let’s wait and see.
Early in my PhD research, I lived in the USA, and I still carry a deep appreciation for the American “can do” attitude. There’s a sense of possibility there, a willingness to try, fail, and try again that is infectious-and, honestly, sometimes missing elsewhere. The US is a powerhouse for medical innovation, and its scale and appetite for risk have always inspired me. Yet, even with all that energy, I’ve seen firsthand how the complexity of the healthcare system and the slow pace of regulatory and reimbursement change can make it hard for new ideas to break through.
Japan, on the other hand, is a place I’ve visited a couple of times for trade shows, and every time I’m struck by the sheer technological sophistication-not just in healthcare, but in daily life. The integration of robotics, AI, and digital health is on another level, and the precision and quality of their medical devices are truly world-class. There’s a quiet efficiency and a deep respect for expertise that permeates everything. Yet, despite all this, everything is really, really slow, gradual, shaped by a culture that values consensus and careful, incremental progress, and an aversion to risk. Personal relationships, built over a looong period of time, seen from the outside but validated by many local advisors and players, appear to be a pre-requisite for any business.
And then there’s the Gulf. If you’d asked me a few years ago, I wouldn’t have put the GCC on my list of likely places for precision medicine to flourish. But visits to the UAE in recent years, and participation in tradeshows like ArabHealth and Medlab have changed that. There’s a different energy there-less bureaucracy, more action.
The UAE really stands out in many regards. A recent visit to the Precision Health Group in Dubai was particularly eye-opening-it’s not just the big hospitals or government-backed giants leading the way. Even smaller companies are already deploying business and healthcare models built around AI, genomics, and other advanced technologies, all with the clear goal of improving health and longevity. What impressed me most was how tangible this progress feels: the recently announced Abu Dhabi longevity vision isn’t just talk, it’s already being lived by patients and practitioners alike. Of course, Abu Dhabi and Dubai are well known for their clusters of private and public research universities, innovation programs, and world-class medical centers. But what’s remarkable is how this momentum extends across the country. Even in smaller emirates like Sharjah and Ajman, universities are launching precision medicine programs, investing in both research and translation, and actively seeking to attract international companies and expertise. There’s a genuine sense of national drive to roll out precision medicine for wide implementation, not just as isolated pilots but as a coordinated, countrywide effort. This ambition is matched by real investment and regulatory support. The Emirati Genome Programme, for example, aims to sequence one million Emiratis, laying the groundwork for personalized therapies and population health insights. M42, a major player in Abu Dhabi, exemplifies this spirit – integrating genomics, AI, and digital health into unified care pathways, and partnering with both local and international innovators to bring new solutions to market. On the regulatory front, the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi has established frameworks to license and support longevity clinics, like the Institute for Healthier Living Abu Dhabi and Pura Longevity Clinic, ensuring that high standards, data protection, and clinical impact are built into the DNA of this new era of medicine. The UAE’s transformation is visible at every level-from the national AI strategy and digital health infrastructure to the everyday reality of smart clinics, telemedicine, and AI-driven diagnostics. It’s a country where ambition and resources are finally in sync, and where the vision for precision medicine is not just a policy-it’s a reality. I don’t know many other places in the world like this!
Saudi Arabia is another such place, although I know it less well. What truly caught my attention- particularly as someone whose products contribute to selecting living cancer patients for liver transplantation and collaborating with transplantation and hepatology centers worldwide – is the sheer scale and ambition of their living donor liver transplantation program. It’s one of the largest in the world, and they’re not just following established paths-they’re leading. At King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre, they’ve performed the world’s first fully robotic living donor liver transplant, and robotic surgery for both donor and recipient is now routine there-something that most so-called “advanced” centers in the West haven’t even started (My former PhD student Hugo Pinto Marques performed the first robotic liver transplantation in Europe: Go Hugo!). The numbers are impressive, but what really stands out is the sense of progress: shorter recovery times, fewer complications, and a willingness to push boundaries that’s hard to find elsewhere. And this leadership goes beyond a single institution. The King Saud Liver Centre is a reference point for the entire region, and is now building a dedicated biobank focused on liver diseases to enable future research and innovation. This future-oriented mindset, coupled with a national drive to expand both clinical excellence and research infrastructure, makes Saudi Arabia a place where the next chapter of liver medicine is being written in real time.
Qatar is a more recent discovery for me, but it’s clear they’re quietly building something impressive. The Qatar Precision Health Institute seems to be at the center of it all, working closely with the national biobank and driving a real commitment to genomics-not just as a research exercise, but as a foundation for everyday care. The Qatar Genome Programme is already sequencing tens of thousands of Qatari genomes, and I was really impressed how they are actually bringing pharmacogenomics into routine clinical practice, in collaboration with Hamad Medical Corporation-not just talking about it.
A lot of people around me are surprised by my fascination with the GCC – it’s not the obvious first stop for most Europeans working in precision medicine. But maybe that’s exactly the point. Sometimes, the places that surprise you are the ones where your work can actually make a real difference. We’re already teaming up with local partners for collaborative clinical studies, and I’m genuinely looking forward to seeing where this leads. As I keep moving between meetings, tradeshows, and countries, I find myself more and more convinced: if you want to catch a glimpse of what the next chapter of precision medicine looks like, you could do a lot worse than starting in the Gulf.
note: text was researched and polished with Perplexity.AI and ProWritingAid, respectively, but content is mine.