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​Al-Jawhara Centre (AJC) was established in 2003 by the Arabian Gulf University and through a donation by H.H. Princess Al-Jawhara Bint Ibrahim Al Ibrahim, the wife of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the late King Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud (may God bless his soul).

AJC aims to provide the GCC with advanced molecular medicine services, including research and development, academic training, molecular diagnostics of genetic diseases, as well as an integrated medically-assisted conception programme including risk analysis, prenatal genetic services, and counseling services for at-risk parents.

Funding from the Princess Al-Jawhara Foundation has been used to build a three storey/12,000 square meters building nearby Arabian Gulf University (AGU) campus and Al Salmaniya Hospital. The land was a generous donation from His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, The King of Bahrain. The ground floor (4,000 square meters) of the facility is fully equipped, and the remaining two upper floors are currently housing the University Medical Centre (UMC), the nucleus of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Medical City.

It is the first Centre in the Arab world that adopts Molecular Medicine as Academic Department that is involved in teaching basic concepts of Molecular Medicine to medical students and conducts   programme for Master in Personalized Medicine and PhD in Molecular Medicine.

The main areas of the centre research include (a) Cellular and Molecular Immunology (b) Genetics and Immune mechanisms in Multiple sclerosis (c) Rare Genetic Diseases. Factors that directed the development of research are impact on teaching and learning, interdisciplinary research, relevance to the region, innovation and commercialization potential.

The centre is currently taking initiatives to establish new areas of research such as Nanomedicine, Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and Genomic Medicine with the process of launching the Bahrain Genome Project and the Personalized Medicine Program.

The Diagnostic Services of the centre provide via the Molecular Diagnostic Unit a DNA/RNA-based clinical diagnostic service to the medical community in Bahrain and in neighboring Gulf States; Fish, Karyotyping and Molecular Cytogenetics via the Cytogenetics Unit; and Neonatal screening programs via the Metabolic and Biochemical Unit.  The IVF and PGD units of the centre provide combined IVF and Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis services to international standards for the gulf community.