DDI awarded the International Award 2021 by the UN Interagency Task Force on the prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) for the Institute’s remarkable contributions to the management, treatment and prevention of diabetes and its related complications.

Dr. Hend AlQaderi, won the international award for the 2021 L’Oréal-UNESCO Prize for Women in Science, recognizing female scientists from the MENA region for their groundbreaking research. Dr. AlQaderi’s project: the use of oral fluids as a non-invasive diagnostic tool that allows early diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 and other inflammatory diseases.

DDI strives to continuously meet international standards to deliver safe and high-quality care.

• DDI is certified with the College of American Pathologists since 2018, which is valid until January 2022.

• DDI has maintained the Accreditation Canada (AC) Unconditional Diamond Level Certification in the QMENTUM Accreditation program in 2018/2019.

• DDI has maintained the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) verified approval to earn the HIPAA Seal of Compliance since 2019 and passed the HIPAA audit in 2021.

An overview of the publication outputs is provided in the subsequent figures/graphs.

Quality of Publications: Impact Factor (IF)

The impact factor (IF) of an academic journal is a scientometric index that reflects the yearly average number of citations that recent articles published in a given journal received.

All research proposals follow a standardized International Scientific Advisory Board (ISAB) approved project governance process. Based on the ISAB recommendations, DDI continues to maintain a focused approach to its research.

There were 54 ongoing projects at the end of 2021. Project approvals follow a standardized process for approval, per above, with all new projects aligned and directly contributing to the approved DDI Strategic Plan.

The Patent & Research Translation Office (PRTO) supports the development and protects the rights of DDI’s research. It also aims to transfer this research to industry, organize multinational collaborative relationships to conduct research, while developing technologies of local, regional, and global value.

Details of Approved Patents at the United States Patent and Trademark Office announced in 2021:

DDI continues to expand its national, regional, and international network by enhancing its collaborative efforts. Thirteen of the major existing collaborations were reviewed and re-assessed with 1 new collaboration concluded.

DDI continued with 5 major regional collaborators in 2021 on multiple research projects:

DDI continues to collaborate nationally to exchange knowledge to strengthen and contribute to the country’s scientific research community and to enhance knowledge transfer.

In 2021 DDI continued to collaborate with the Kuwait Ministry of Health (MOH) and Kuwait University (KU) on multiple projects covering various scientific disciplines. A breakdown of the number of projects is illustrated below with a total number of national projects with KU and MOH reaching 30 for 2021.

The above does not include the collaborations with Public Authority for Food and Nutrition (PAFN) collaborations and is purely KU and MOH projects.

Consortiums provide multi-organizational groups the opportunity to coordinate, network and pull resources together for common well-defined scientific goals. To enhance joint alliances, DDI participated in 9 consortiums during 2021.

In addition to the above, DDI researchers are associated and work on multiple research projects with over 11 international institutions worldwide on a project level basis over and above the ones listed earlier.

As part of DDI’s initiative to develop a Switch tailored for persons with diabetes,  in collaboration with the George Institute for Global Health, DDI developed a Diabetes Switch (Filter), the first of its kind in the world. The Diabetes Switch considers components in its logic that are integral to diabetic patients, such as carbohydrates and Fibre – in addition to the existing nutrients such as Energy Density, Saturated Fat and Salt/Sodium. The DDI and The George team developed a new logic specific to the Diabetes Switch to emphasise the components that affect people with diabetes and propose healthier choices. As a result, FoodSwitch Kuwait has been rebranded as the Dasman Switch.

DDI piloted the DasmanSwitch in 2021 with an official launch scheduled for February 2022.

DDI continues to develop clinical projects and programs that aim to improve the quality of healthcare delivery services, patient well-being and diabetes outcomes through behavioral interventions and therapeutics.

Some key results are illustrated below:

Diabetes Remission

50% of T1DM patients reduced their medications by 50%

Cognitive Testing

Project participants (T1DM & T1DM) increased to 422 participants in 2021

Multiple skills development programs were designed for professionals, patients, partnering organizations and the general population of Kuwait. These research, educational and awareness initiatives focused on learning and development for the treatment of diabetes and its corresponding burden. DDI provided accredited training and development opportunities for 2,158 professionals in 2021.

As a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, online platforms were utilized and optimized to deliver initiatives for schools and the public for diabetes awareness.

10

Educational Videos

74

Webinars/Virtual Group Sessions

940

Webinar Participants

7

Electronic Booklets

In Kuwait, DDI continues to be the only training center for the Middle East for DAFNE.

DAFNE was piloted in Kuwait with cultural adaptation as a clinical service, with 684 graduates (cumulative) completed in 2021.

Collaboration has been extended for clinical training, expansion to DAFNE pump program, health economist training and qualitative training.

DDI continues to provide awareness through the website’s media page which includes educational interviews, scientific updates, and newsworthy highlights on DDI activities. A total of 7 were conducted in 2021.

To view our Media page, click on the button below.

DDI electronically distributes quarterly Research newsletters to share and promote research in DDI while increasing the public awareness of research activities and achievements within.