AI helps UAE doctors predict heart disease, diabetes, fertility risks

Doctors in the UAE are exploring how AI, genetic data, and predictive health tools can help identify serious conditions, such as heart attacks, diabetes complications, and fertility issues, years before patients exhibit symptoms.

- Waad Barakat

From left: Dr Riaz Khan, Chief Strategy Officer at HOSMAC; Dr Ihsan Almarzooqi, Co-Founder of Metabolic; Dr Samer Ellahham, Medical Director at Cleveland Clinic; Dr Partha Das, Medical Director at Orchid Fertility; and Rajeesh Kumar, Chief Technology Officer at Mindfire, during a session on Wednesday.

The approach, experts say, has the potential to save lives, but also raises ethical and structural challenges.

At the “Diagnosing Before Symptoms” session, part of the 5th Future of Healthcare Summit 2025 organised by Khaleej Times, Dr Samer Ellahham, Medical Director at Cleveland Clinic, compared the quality of data in predictive medicine to making popcorn. “If the data isn't good, no matter how sophisticated the algorithm, the result is useless,” he said. “You can't make a good snack out of burnt kernels.”