All articles by julian turner
julian turner
Can’t get the staff – medical recruitment in GCC nations
Despite their wealth and growing populations – fuelled in part by the inward migration of affluent expatriates – the nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council lag behind some of their poorer neighbours when it comes to a supply of locally trained medical staff. As healthcare systems expand to meet demand, how will hospitals meet recruitment requirements, and can local talent play a bigger part? Sarah Williams speaks to Choucrallah Karam, managing partner and lead for healthcare and life sciences at Improstrat, to find out more.
Best foot forward – preventing diabetes-related limb loss
Only a few years ago, one in five diabetics in the UAE would eventually lose a limb. But now, healthcare in the area is getting serious about the problem – particularly in terms of foot ulcers. Andrew Putwain explores how the region is getting better at preventing limb loss, and speaks to diabetologist Dr Almoutaz Alkhier Ahmed about how those numbers are being cut.
Switched-on healthcare – cognitive computing
IBM’s Watson supercomputer, which can answer questions posed in natural language, first came to wide public attention in 2011, when it won the US television quiz-show Jeopardy!. But this crowd-pleasing feat gave just a hint of what this cloud-based technology, known as cognitive computing, can achieve. Applications are now being created for sectors such as retail, education and banking, but the area in which Watson is having its biggest impact is healthcare. Dale Potter, healthcare transformation partner of IBM Watson Group, tells Kim Thomas how its ability to provide physicians with access to a vast database of clinical knowledge may turn out to be transformative.
Open sesame – medical research in the Middle East
The SESAME Project is constructing the Middle East’s first major international research centre, a cooperative venture by the scientists and governments of the region that is under the umbrella of UNESCO. We speak to Sir Christopher Llewellyn Smith, the president of the SESAME council, which governs the project, about the set-up for the organisation and what this could mean for public-health research in the region.
Matters of the heart – treating Marfan syndrome
Marfan syndrome is a cardiovascular disease that affects a disproportionately high number of people in the Middle East, but, early in 2016, surgeons presented a new technique that uses the latest technology and can help patients in the early stage of the disease. Kerry Taylor-Smith speaks to Professors John Pepper and Tom Treasure about a new procedure, and whether this pioneering technique could become more commonplace in the region.
Imaging on the brain – diagnosing and treating neurodegenerative diseases
A new brain-imaging technique developed by researchers is paving the way for improved diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. Dr Daniel Stäb, chief developer at the University of Queensland Centre for Advanced Imaging speaks to Medical Imaging Technology about how this could benefit patients.
The enemy within – healthcare-associated infections
Healthcare-associated infections are one of the most pressing patient-safety concerns affecting healthcare facilities today. Elly Earls speaks to Dr Najiba M Abdulrazzaq, head of the infection prevention and control central committee at the Ministry of Health in Dubai, as well as the internal medicine department at Al Baraha Hospital, and pharmacy education and training manager at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi Rania el-Lababidi to find out how hospitals in the UAE are working to combat them.
The frontier of wound care – stem-cell research in the UAE
When it was first announced in June 2016, Dr Saqer al-Mualla’s trial of a new stem-cell therapy to treat chronic wounds was hailed as a significant breakthrough. But cellular experimentation is not the only weapon the plastic surgeon has deployed against chronic wounds. Greg Noone talks to the esteemed plastic surgeon about the challenges involved in pursuing stem-cell research in the UAE, and his latest forays into digital healthcare and extracellular matrices as alternative wound care treatments.
Image problem – early-stage pancreatic cancer prognosis
Because pancreatic cancer is nearly always detected at a late stage, there is a pressing need for better diagnostic techniques. The EndoTOFPET-US project based at CERN has developed an endoscopic PET scanner that could be used to find biomarkers of early-stage pancreatic cancer, thus improving the prognosis. Abi Millar speaks to Dr Paul Lecoq, a physicist at CERN, about what this technology entails and what it means for the future of medical imaging in cancer treatments.
Sound advice – medical imaging regulation
A series of regulatory measures have been launched to cope with the increasingly intense scrutiny to which medical imaging services are being subjected. Nick Dudley, from the British Medical Ultrasound Service, explains to Andrew Putwain how they will ensure that staff are properly trained, as well as guaranteeing the safety of those using the service.