UCL delivering solutions to challenges in UAE, says UCL Provost Michael Arthur

UCL research is advancing the ability to develop solutions to many challenges of concern in the United Arab Emirates and the wider Arab world, Professor Michael Arthur, UCL President & Provost, said today in a speech in Dubai. Addressing a reception for UCL alumni in the region, Professor Arthur spoke of the growing links between UCL and the UAE, highlighting a number of key projects UCL, one of the world's leading universities, is taking forward in the areas of health and urban planning relevance to the UAE and wider Arab world. Projects highlighted by Professor Arthur included: The planned establishment of a world class treatment centre to develop stem cell and other treatments for diabetic retinopathy, a condition of major concern in the UAE, where it occurs in high levels among diabetics. Development of the UCL Institute of Immunity and Transplantation (IIT) at the Royal Free Hospital London to bring together world-leading scientists investigating the role of immunity in disease, and clinicians implementing innovative treatments for patients. Several of the infectious and genetic diseases that will be investigated at the centre, such as diabetes and haemophilia, are more prevalent than average in the region; The work of UCL Space Syntax - a UCL spin-out company - in Dubai to help model urban development and improve future urban planning decisions by predicting the likely effect of urban change on transport, infrastructure, land use, density and value.   "All of the projects described demonstrate how UCL delivers world-leading research and solutions to global challenges and how the institution is a force for good and enriching the local communities, in London and overseas," said Professor Arthur.