Embarking on a journey that has spanned continents and decades, I, Prof. Salah Abusnana, have dedicated my life to advancing diabetes and endocrine care. From my foundational years in Libya to transformative experiences in the United Kingdom, and culminating in pioneering contributions in the United Arab Emirates, my path reflects a commitment to innovation, education, and compassionate healthcare.

My medical journey commenced with a degree from Al-Fatah University in Libya in 1990. Driven by a desire to broaden my expertise, I relocated to the United Kingdom in 1994, where I trained at esteemed institutions including Hammersmith Hospital, Guys and St. Thomas Hospital, and Brighton University Hospital. These formative years were marked by rigorous clinical practice and groundbreaking research, leading to the attainment of my MRCP in 1995, an MSc in Neuroendocrinology in 1996, and a Ph.D. from Imperial College London in 2001.

In 2010, I embraced an opportunity in the United Arab Emirates, joining University Hospital Sharjah as a Senior Consultant in Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Internal Medicine. Subsequently, I assumed the roles of Professor and Deputy Chair for the Clinical Science Department at the University of Sharjah. In 2011, I was honored to be appointed Medical Director of the Rashid Centre for Diabetes and Research (RCDR) where I introduced innovative services such as insulin pump therapy and weight management, establishing new standards in the region.

A significant milestone was the creation of the Master of Science in Diabetes Management at the University of Sharjah—the first program of its kind in the UAE. Conceived in 2016 and launched in 2020, this program empowers healthcare professionals with advanced expertise to combat the growing diabetes epidemic. In 2018, I founded the Sharjah Diabetes and Endocrine Center of Excellence and the Sharjah Diabetes Research Institute, integrating research with clinical care to address critical healthcare challenges.

Beyond clinical practice and research, I have been deeply engaged in global knowledge sharing, delivering keynote addresses at prestigious international conferences and collaborating with esteemed organizations such as the British Endocrine Society, the European Society of Diabetes, and the American Diabetes Association. In addition to these speaking engagements, I have had the privilege of chairing influential board meetings, contributing to strategic decision-making committees, and serving as a trusted advisor to various healthcare organizations.My efforts in advancing diabetes and endocrine care have been recognized with numerous awards for leadership, innovation, and excellence in the field. These honors reflect not only my personal dedication but also the collective achievements of the remarkable teams and communities I have been fortunate to work alongside throughout my journey.

My career is driven by a singular purpose : to improve lives through compassionate care, innovative research, and education. From the corridors of London’s leading hospitals to the healthcare institutions of the UAE, my journey underscores the power of vision, collaboration, and commitment in shaping the future of diabetes care and education.

Key Milestones:

• 1990: Earned MBBCH from Al-Fatah University, Libya.
• 1994: Began specialization in the UK at esteemed institutions like Hammersmith Hospital.
• 1995-2001: Achieved MRCP, MSc, and Ph.D. with a focus on neuroendocrinology and obesity.
• 2010: Joined University Hospital Sharjah and the University of Sharjah.
• 2011: Appointed Medical Director of the Rashid Centre for Diabetes and Research (RCDR), UAE.
• 2016: Envisioned the MSc in Diabetes Management at the University of Sharjah. 2018: Established the Sharjah Diabetes and Endocrine Center of Excellence and Research Institute.
• 2020: Launched the MSc program, the first of its kind in the UAE.

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I want to assist you in achieving your goal and treating the illness by providing you with an integrated care system

I strive to achieve good clinical outcomes for my patients to provide them with the best possible quality of life

1. Tariq, Z., Abusnana, S., Mussa, B. M., & Zakaria, H. (2024). New insights on genetic background of major diabetic vascular complications. Diabetology & metabolic syndrome, 16(1), 243. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13098-024-01473-y
2. Shaheen, A., Sadiya, A., Mussa, B. M., & Abusnana, S. (2024). Postprandial Glucose and Insulin Response to Meal Sequence Among Healthy UAE Adults: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial. Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy, 17, 4257–4265. https://doi.org/10.2147/DMSO.S468628
3. Muayyad, M., Abusnana, S., Mussa, B. M., Helal, R., Abdelrahim, D. N., Abdelreheim, N. H., Al Amiri, E., Daboul, M., Al-Abadla, Z., Lessan, N., & Faris, M. E. (2024). Adherence to the Mediterranean diet and sleep quality are inter-correlated with flash glucose monitoring (FGM)-measured glycemia among children with type 1 diabetes. Journal of education and health promotion, 13, 284. https://doi.org/10.4103/jehp.jehp_1609_23
4. Weisy, O. K. M., Kedia, R. A., Mahmoud, I., Abu Odeh, R. O., Mussa, B. M., Abusnana, S., Soliman, S. S. M., Muhammad, J. S., Hamad, M., Ghemrawi, R., & Khoder, G. (2024). Assessment of Helicobacter pyloricytotoxin-associated Gene A (Cag A) protein and its association with ferritin and vitamin B12 deficiencies among adult healthy asymptomatic residents in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Heliyon, 10(11), e32141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e32141
5. Ramakrishnan, R. K., Srivastava, A., Rajan, R., Abusnana, S., & Mussa, B. M. (2024). Investigating the role of an immediate early gene FOS as a potential regulator of autophagic response to hypoglycemia in embryonic hypothalamic neurons. Clinical and translational science, 17(3), e13749. https://doi.org/10.1111/cts.13749
6. Alzarooni, K. I., Abusnana, S., Zakaria, H., Hussein, A., Mussa, B. M., & Mohammed, G. (2024). Predictive factors of perinatal depression among women with gestational diabetes mellitus in the UAE: a cross-sectional clinical study. BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 24(1), 146. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-024-06307-3
7. Alnimer, A., Bhamidimarri, P. M., Talaat, I. M., Alkhayaal, N., Eltayeb, A., Ali, N., Abusnana, S., Hamoudi, R., & Bendardaf, R. (2023). Association Between Expression of Vitamin D Receptor and Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 Receptor Among Breast Cancer Patients. World journal of oncology, 14(1), 67–74. https://doi.org/10.14740/wjon1550
8. Abusnana, S., Al Awadi, F., Aly, H., Bashier, A., Kumar Dhanwal, D., Halasa, T., Jallo, M., Medina, J., & Singhal, S. (2023). Switching to a fixed-ratio combination of insulin degludec/liraglutide (IDegLira) is associated with improved glycaemic control in a real-world population with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the United Arab Emirates: Results from the multicentre, prospective INTENSIFY study. Diabetes research and clinical practice, 196, 110183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diabres.2022.110183
9. Al Ali, T., Ashfaq, A., Saheb Sharif-Askari, N., Abusnana, S., & Mussa, B. M. (2023). Investigating the Association between Diabetic Neuropathy and Vitamin D in Emirati Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Cells, 12(1), 198. https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12010198
10. Elemam, N. M., Talaat, I. M., Bayoumi, F. A., Zein, D., Georgy, R., Altamimi, A., Alkhayyal, N., Habbal, A., Al Ali, F., ElKhider, A., Ahmed, A., Abusnana, S., & Bendardaf, R. (2022). Peripheral blood cell anomalies in COVID-19 patients in the United Arab Emirates: A single-centered study. Frontiers in medicine, 9, 1072427. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2022.1072427
11. Mussa, B. M., Venkatachalam, T., Srivastava, A., Al-Habshi, A., Abdelgadir, E., Bashier, A., Al Awadi, F., Hafidh, K., Hamoudi, R., & Abusnana, S. (2022). Identification of novel differentially expressed genes in type 1 diabetes mellitus complications using transcriptomic profiling of UAE patients: a multicenter study. Scientific reports, 12(1), 16316. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-18997-w
12. Bendardaf, R., Bhamidimarri, P. M., Al-Abadla, Z., Zein, D., Alkhayal, N., Georgy, R. R., Al Ali, F., Elkhider, A., Qadri, S., Hamoudi, R., & Abusnana, S. (2022). Ferritin, blood urea nitrogen, and high chest CT score determines ICU admission in COVID-19 positive UAE patients: A single center retrospective study. PloS one, 17(7), e0269185. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0269185
13. Mussa, B. M., Srivastava, A., Al-Habshi, A., Mohammed, A. K., Halwani, R., & Abusnana, S. (2021). Inflammatory Biomarkers Levels in T2DM Emirati Patients with Diabetic Neuropathy. Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy, 14, 3389–3397. https://doi.org/10.2147/DMSO.S319863
14. Giordo, R., Ahmed, Y. M. A., Allam, H., Abusnana, S., Pappalardo, L., Nasrallah, G. K., Mangoni, A. A., & Pintus, G. (2021). EndMT Regulation by Small RNAs in Diabetes-Associated Fibrotic Conditions: Potential Link With Oxidative Stress. Frontiers in cell and developmental biology, 9, 683594. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2021.683594
15. Al Zoubi, Y., Mussa, B. M., Srivastava, A., Mohammed, A. K., Abdelgadir, E., Bashier, A., Awadi, F. A., & Abusnana, S. (2020). Differential Expression of Inflammatory Markers in Hypoglycemia Unawareness Associated with Type 1 Diabetes: A Case Report. Brain sciences, 11(1), 17. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci11010017
16. Saheb Sharif-Askari, N., Saheb Sharif-Askari, F., Mdkhana, B., Al Heialy, S., Ratemi, E., Alghamdi, M., Abusnana, S., Kashour, T., Hamid, Q., & Halwani, R. (2020). Effect of common medications on the expression of SARS-CoV-2 entry receptors in liver tissue. Archives of toxicology, 94(12), 4037–4041. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00204-020-02869-1
17. Bendardaf, R., Saheb Sharif-Askari, F., Saheb Sharif-Askari, N., Yousuf Guraya, S., A AlMadhi, S., & Abusnana, S. (2020). Incidence and Clinicopathological Features of Breast Cancer in the Northern Emirates: Experience from Sharjah Breast Care Center. International journal of women’s health, 12, 893–899. https://doi.org/10.2147/IJWH.S266335
18. Fikri, A. M., Smyth, R., Kumar, V., Al-Abadla, Z., Abusnana, S., & Munday, M. R. (2020). Pre-diagnostic biomarkers of type 2 diabetes identified in the UAE’s obese national population using targeted metabolomics. Scientific reports, 10(1), 17616. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73384-7
19. Saheb Sharif-Askari, F., Saheb Sharif-Askari, N., Halwani, R., Abusnana, S., Hamoudi, R., & Sulaiman, N. (2020). Low Vitamin D Serum Level Is Associated with HDL-C Dyslipidemia and Increased Serum Thrombomodulin Levels of Insulin-Resistant Individuals. Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy, 13, 1599–1607. https://doi.org/10.2147/DMSO.S245742
20. Alkhayyal, N., Talaat, I., Vinodnadat, A., Maghazachi, A., Abusnana, S., Syrjänen, K., & Bendardaf, R. (2020). Correlation of Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 Receptor Expression With Different Molecular Subtypes of Breast Cancer in the UAE. Anticancer research, 40(3), 1555–1561. https://doi.org/10.21873/anticanres.14102
21. Saheb Sharif-Askari, N., Sharif, H. A., Saheb Sharif-Askari, F., Hamid, Q., Abusnana, S., & Hamoudi, R. (2019). Association between body mass index and asthma severity in Arab pediatric population: A retrospective study. PloS one, 14(12), e0226957. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226957
22. Aldawi, N., Darwiche, G., Abusnana, S., Elbagir, M., & Elgzyri, T. (2019). Initial increase in glucose variability during Ramadan fasting in non-insulin-treated patients with diabetes type 2 using continuous glucose monitoring. The Libyan journal of medicine, 14(1), 1535747. https://doi.org/10.1080/19932820.2018.1535747
23. Hamoudi, R., Saheb Sharif-Askari, N., Saheb Sharif-Askari, F., Abusnana, S., Aljaibeji, H., Taneera, J., & Sulaiman, N. (2019). Prediabetes and diabetes prevalence and risk factors comparison between ethnic groups in the United Arab Emirates. Scientific reports, 9(1), 17437. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-53505-7
24. Al-Dmour, J. A., Sagahyroon, A., Al-Ali, A. R., & Abusnana, S. (2019). A fuzzy logic-based warning system for patients classification. Health informatics journal, 25(3), 1004–1024. https://doi.org/10.1177/1460458217735674
25. Mussa, B. M., Schauman, M., Kumar, V., Skaria, S., & Abusnana, S. (2019). Personalized intervention to improve stress and sleep patterns for glycemic control and weight management in obese Emirati patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled clinical trial. Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy, 12, 991–999. https://doi.org/10.2147/DMSO.S201142
26. Saber-Ayad, M., Manzoor, S., El Serafi, A., Mahmoud, I., Hammoudeh, S., Rani, A., Abusnana, S., & Sulaiman, N. (2019). The FTO rs9939609 “A” allele is associated with impaired fasting glucose and insulin resistance in Emirati population. Gene, 681, 93–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gene.2018.09.053
27. Abusnana, S., Beshyah, S. A., Al-Mutawa, N., Tahhan, R., Jallo, M., Arora, R., Aly, H., & Singhal, S. (2018). Hypoglycaemia Among Insulin-Treated Patients with Diabetes: Evaluation of the United Arab Emirates cohort of the International Operations-Hypoglycaemia Assessment Tool study. Sultan Qaboos University medical journal, 18(4), e447–e454. https://doi.org/10.18295/squmj.2018.18.04.004
28. Mussa, B. M., Hamoudi, R. A., & Abusnana, S. E. (2018). Association Trends Between Antihypertensive Drug Therapies and Diastolic Hypotension in Emirati Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Single-Center Retrospective Longitudinal Study. Diabetes therapy : research, treatment and education of diabetes and related disorders, 9(5), 1853–1868. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13300-018-0469-2
29. Sulaiman, N., Albadawi, S., Abusnana, S., Mairghani, M., Hussein, A., Al Awadi, F., Madani, A., Zimmet, P., & Shaw, J. (2018). High prevalence of diabetes among migrants in the United Arab Emirates using a cross-sectional survey. Scientific reports, 8(1), 6862. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-24312-3
30. Saber-Ayad, M., Manzoor, S., El-Serafi, A., Mahmoud, I., Abusnana, S., & Sulaiman, N. (2018). Statin-induced myopathy SLCO1B1 521T > C is associated with prediabetes, high body mass index and normal lipid profile in Emirati population. Diabetes research and clinical practice, 139, 272–277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diabres.2018.03.014