Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Features Innovative Autism Research at the UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention’s Arab Health 2022 Conference

As part of a longstanding partnership with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Emirates Health Services (EHS), Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) will exhibit leading medical breakthroughs in the EHS booth at the annual Arab Health Exhibition and Congress, which is taking place at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre this week. Among the innovations designed to benefit children, the booth will showcase CHOP’s thought-leading diagnostic technology to digitally assess Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

“Today, diagnosing ASD can be arduous journey for families, as qualified diagnosticians are in short supply and waitlists for appointments are typically quite long. It can also be challenging to accurately diagnose autism because the clinical presentation can be highly variable and the field lacks objective biomarkers, and instead we must rely on expert clinical judgement,” said Robert Schultz, PhD, Director of the Center for Autism Research (CAR), a multi-faceted research program at CHOP working to understand the causes of ASD. “Over the last six years, researchers at CHOP have developed novel technology that creates objective phenotypic biomarkers that support a granularized diagnostic approach and guide individualized treatment plans.”

“Objective diagnostic tests and biomarkers will allow parents all over the world to have their child evaluated more quickly and with better certainty, with the promise of scaling these solutions so that diagnostic testing could be done remotely with telemedicine. Ongoing work at CAR has revealed several promising biomarkers for infants and toddlers, opening the possibility for much earlier diagnoses and interventions,” Schultz added.

Alongside the exhibit collaboration at Arab Health, CHOP and EHS will sign a Visiting Consultant Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signifying the continued, successful partnership around expanding in-country pediatric subspecialty expertise. This MOU supports CHOP subspeciality physicians visiting EHS hospitals, reviewing patient cases with local physicians, and providing educational opportunities on the latest developments in pediatric clinical care.

“We are honored to continue our commitment with the newly organized EHS and the Visiting Consultant Program,” said Ruth Frey, Vice President of Global Strategy and Business Development at CHOP. “CHOP values this important initiative with our long-time partners to share pediatric expertise and deliver high-quality healthcare to patient families in the UAE. Together, CHOP and EHS colleagues will collaborate to further elevate in country clinical capabilities to benefit the children of the UAE.”