The soon-to-be-launched Princess Al Jawhara Centre is potentially Bahrain’s best hope in fighting and possibly eradicating inherited diseases and genetic disorders.

As director of the upcoming Al Jawhara Centre for Molecular Medicine, Genetics and Inherited Diseases, Professor Moiz Bakhiet has embarked on his most ambitious project yet.

The Sudanese-Swedish physician, scientist and teacher will oversee Bahrain’s first molecular medicine centre, offering diagnostic services in screening inherited diseases. It will also carry out research in common genetic disorders in the GCC, including Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

After an MBBS from the University of Khartoum, Professor Moiz moved to Sweden, where he specialised in neurology before earning his Ph.D in molecular immunology.

“There are no borders in science now. I was a neurologist, but for my doctoral research, I worked on neurosciences at the molecular level,” he says.

The GCC is ideally suited as a habitat for genetic research, he believes.

“The region has a high prevalence of genetic diseases owing to the inordinate consanguinity, or marriage within the same family, which burdens not only the family, but also society as well as health care providers. Early detection will have a great impact in managing and ultimately eradicating these diseases and lessening the burden on health care service providers,” he notes.

Though laws in Bahrain stipulate that couples planning to marry need to take tests for certain inherited and infectious diseases before marriage, they are free to marry regardless of the outcome of the tests, he observes