Thumbay Group launches international research centre in Ajman; AED 3 million grants announced

Ajman (UAE): Thumbay Group has laid the foundation stone for the Thumbay International Research Centre, a six-storey facility aimed at advancing medical research, innovation and precision medicine in the region.

The groundbreaking ceremony was held on June 10 at Dusit Ajman Resort & Villas under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Ammar bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Crown Prince of Ajman and Chairman of the Ajman Executive Council. The event was hosted by Dr. Thumbay Moideen, Founder President of Thumbay Group.

The research centre will be constructed on Plot No. 7150 in Al Jurf, Ajman, and will span around 3,000 square metres. The facility will include a ground floor, five upper floors and a rooftop, with a total height of 27.75 metres.

According to Thumbay Group, the centre is designed to bring together scientific research, diagnostics and clinical care under one roof, creating an environment where researchers, clinicians and healthcare innovators can work closely together.

The first floor will house start-up laboratories, an incubation centre and an advanced AR/VR laboratory. The second floor will contain general wet laboratories, while the third floor will focus on experimental oncology research. The fourth floor will be dedicated to genomics, next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics.

A preclinical research facility, including animal research units and a dedicated zebrafish research platform, will occupy the fifth floor. The ground floor will feature a 110-seat seminar hall and a shared imaging core facility.

The Thumbay International Research Centre will become the permanent base for Gulf Medical University's research activities. It will support researchers, faculty members and students from the university's colleges of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Health Sciences, Nursing, Veterinary Medicine and AI in Healthcare.

The facility will also house the Thumbay Research Institute for Precision Medicine (TRIPM), which currently operates from existing university facilities.

Speaking at the event, Dr. Thumbay Moideen said the group's focus over the last three decades had been on building hospitals, healthcare services and medical education institutions.

"For the past three decades, we have invested in building hospitals, healthcare services, and a world-class, biggest and No.1 private medical university in the Gulf. This research centre represents the next chapter of that journey. Our vision was to bring discovery, diagnosis, and treatment together," he said.

Gulf Medical University Chancellor Prof. Manda Venkatramana said the new facility would strengthen the university's research capabilities and help it move towards becoming a leading research-intensive institution.

Prof. Salem Chouaib, Director of TRIPM, said the centre would provide dedicated infrastructure for advanced genomics, immunotherapy research, liquid biopsy programmes and preclinical investigations.

The event also marked the announcement of the second cycle of the Thumbay International Research Grant programme. Funding worth AED 3 million was awarded to 13 research projects involving investigators from institutions across 26 countries in collaboration with Gulf Medical University researchers.

The funded projects cover areas such as precision oncology, drug discovery, cochlear implant research, artificial intelligence in medical education and veterinary diabetes research.

Thumbay Group also announced collaborations with several international institutions, including Harvard Medical School, Baylor University, Washington University and the University of Arizona in the United States; the University of Waterloo in Canada; Policlinico Hospital in Italy; Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands; Regensburg University, Hannover Medical School and Charité Berlin in Germany; and Lublin University in Poland.

The third cycle of the international research grant programme is expected to be announced shortly.

During the ceremony, Gulf Medical University conferred honorary doctorates on K.E. Faizal, Founder and Chairman of KEF Holdings and the Faizal & Shabana Foundation, and Mohammed Meeran, Founder and Chairman of Electric Way, in recognition of their contributions to industry, philanthropy and community development.

Once completed, the research centre will support several flagship initiatives, including the PhD in Precision Medicine programme, the Future Scientists of the UAE outreach initiative, the annual GMU Research Day and a growing number of international research collaborations.

The centre will also be integrated with Gulf Medical University's broader research ecosystem, including the Thumbay Institute of Population Health, Thumbay Institute for AI in Healthcare, Thumbay Institute of Clinical Simulation and Thumbay Labs.