In 2014, Emirati doctor Hilal Al Naqbi received the UAE Pioneers Award for developing an artificial liver that could save thousands of lives. It is currently being tested on animals, after Al Naqbi was granted a patent for his design that same year. With his invention — said to be the first of its kind in the UAE — Al Naqbi has been credited with making one of the most important medical breakthroughs of any Emirati.
The three-chambered bio-artificial liver is now reportedly being tested on a rat after successful in vitro experiments were conducted in a lab. Once available on the market, the model liver is to be offered as a ‘stop-gap’ to patients on a waiting list to receive a liver transplant, which is sure to save lives given the limited organ transplant facilities in the UAE. Al Naqbi started developing his groundbreaking creation while working as a professor at the UAE University in 2011.
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