Center of Excellence
About the Center of Excellence
The Center of Excellence for Smart Health (KCSH) aims to be a leader in the development and deployment of smart-health technologies and knowledge to address national priorities in Health and Wellness. To achieve this vision, the KCSH drives multidisciplinary collaboration between world-class KAUST scientists and national and international partners to transform basic discoveries into practical solutions.
The KCSH mission is to establish solution-oriented research programs to develop innovative smart technologies and drive their integration into the healthcare delivery system of Saudi Arabia and the region. The KCSH uses KAUST’s globally recognized academic excellence to develop smart technologies to improve health, extend lifespan and mitigate emerging communicable diseases. Through these research and development activities, enabled by world-leading faculty and bioinnovation platforms, the KCSH establishes training and education programs that will produce the next generation of Saudi scientists and health sector leaders.
Welcome Message from the Chair
“It is my privilege to lead the KAUST Center of Excellence for Smart Health as the Chair, along with my esteemed colleague, Professor Xin Gao, as co-Chair. The KCSH is a multidisciplinary research center aligned with Saudi Arabia's research, development and innovation priorities in Health and Wellness. Building upon the widely recognized achievements of the KAUST Smart-Health Initiative and the KAUST Computational Bioscience Research Center, the primary mission of the KCSH is to develop smart-health technologies and knowledge. These practical outcomes will address critical health challenges pertinent to Saudi Arabia, the Middle East region and the world. Furthermore, the KCSH aims to broaden existing national and international partnerships and cultivate new collaborations, creating an ecosystem that enables discoveries that can be rapidly transformed into practical solutions for pressing health issues.”
Research and Translation Areas
The research activity of the KCSH will focus on both biology-driven (One Health, and Healthy Aging and Regenerative Technologies) and smart-technology-driven (Smart Diagnostic and Sensing Technologies, and Bioinformatics and Computational Biology) approaches. The integrated structure of these four themes positions the KCSH to address key challenges in communicable and noncommunicable diseases while delivering tangible impact to the Saudi population.
Training and Outreach
The KCSH will build national research capacity by establishing innovative health research and training programs. Leveraging KAUST’s globally recognized brand of academic excellence, these programs will equip the next generation of leading scientists and clinicians with the skills to integrate smart-health tools and technologies into the Saudi healthcare system, while also providing further training to current health professionals and those in related fields.
The KCSH faculty, researchers and students are dedicated to engaging with society through outreach activities. These activities will connect KAUST and the KCSH with the community for the bidirectional exchange of knowledge and experience. In particular, the KCSH is targeting opportunities to connect with students at all levels. The KCSH faculty are also active in providing expertise to partners and stakeholders both nationally and internationally.
Partners and Supporters
Partnership is a crucial enabler for the KCSH to deliver impact in research and development, bioinnovation, education and training, and outreach and communication. The KCSH is committed to forging new partnerships and strengthening existing relationships with national and international partners across the health and wellness landscape to achieve research objectives and accelerate the integration of these outputs into the national health system.
The KCSH is always seeking to develop new collaborations and partnerships. Please reach out to us at smarthealth@kaust.edu.sa to discuss potential partnerships and collaborations.
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