Prof. Jackie Ying: KFSHRC to Quadruple Research Capacity and Exceed 1,000 Clinical Trials Within 8 Years
Ying made the remarks during her presentation at the C3 Davos of Healthcare™ New York Summit: Healthcare Disrupted – The Future of AI, Data & Precision Medicine, where KFSHRC participated as a Strategic Partner. She outlined the hospital’s integrated innovation strategy, emphasizing that as the main referral center for the most complex cases in Saudi Arabia and the wider MENA region, KFSHRC has access to a critical mass of patients and biosamples, giving it a unique position to advance biobanking and large-scale clinical trials.
She explained that the hospital organizes research as a unified enterprise—starting with tissues, blood, and microbiome samples etc.—analyzed through multi-omics, machine learning and AI to identify unique disease biomarkers. These discoveries are already shaping new RNA therapeutics, peptide-based theranostics, and ultrafast molecular diagnostics that improve accuracy, speed, and affordability in patient care.
Ying highlighted that KFSHRC has developed and manufactured its own CAR-T cell therapies for leukemia and lymphoma, while new studies are underway targeting solid tumors and autoimmune diseases. The hospital also operates three cyclotrons, with radiopharmaceuticals distributed across Saudi Arabia, and continues to expand its state-of-the-art laboratories that support in vitro and animal studies.
She revealed that new infrastructure is being planned to sustain this growth, including a new research center dedicated to interdisciplinary innovation, and another focused-on disease-specific research such as cancers, genetic disorders, neurological diseases, heart diseases and infectious diseases. Close collaboration with the Saudi National Institute of Health (SNIH) and Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) is designed to promote translational research, and accelerate regulatory approval of promising therapies, diagnostics and medical devices emerging from clinical trials.
By integrating the entire value chain—from biomarker discovery to GMP production and clinical trials—within its ecosystem, KFSHRC avoids premature spin-offs and over-reliance on venture capital. Instead, Ying said, this model ensures that when spin-offs are launched, they will be “sustainable, strong, and highly valued,” supported by the hospital’s on-campus accelerator and incubator.
She concluded that KFSHRC’s vision is not only driven by science but also socio-economics: to democratize precision medicine, particularly for prevalent genetic diseases that are expensive to treat, and to create a lasting impact on healthcare innovations across the Kingdom and beyond.
KFSHRC has been ranked first in the Middle East and Africa, and 15th globally among the top 250 Academic Medical Centres worldwide for 2025. It is also recognized as the most valuable healthcare brand in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East by Brand Finance in 2024, and was listed among the World’s Best Smart Hospitals 2025 by Newsweek.
For more information, visit www.kfshrc.edu.sa or contact our media team at mediacoverage@kfshrc.edu.sa
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