Princess Haya Biotechnology Center

The Princess Haya Biotechnology Center was established at the Jordan University of Science and Technology on the campus of King Abdullah University Hospital,  according to the decree number 998/2005 issued by the Council for Higher Education on 03/10/2005.

The center has provided faculty members and graduate students from different disciplines at the university with an excellent, unprecedented infrastructure for experimental research in biotechnology, especially in the fields of genomics and proteomics. Currently, approximately twenty graduate students working towards the Master’s degree are conducting research at the center under the supervision of a distinguished group of faculty members from the colleges of Medicine, Science, Medical sciences, Dentistry, and Agricultural Sciences.

The center houses sixteen research laboratories, and occupies approximately
1500 square meters. It is managed by a staff of four employees and seventeen distinguished technicians holding the bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.

Despite the urgent need of the Arab World, including Jordan, to benefit from the scientific research in the areas of genomics and biotechnology and from available resources and recent projects such as the Genome Project the lack of the ability to stay abreast of these modern technologies in the biomedical and genetic fields has been one of the serious obstacles in this regard. Such technologies and data should form the foundation to the protection of citizens from the many genetic diseases the rates of which among Jordanians significantly exceed their corresponding international counterparts and negatively impact the social, health, and economic life in Jordan. In contrast to the situation in the developed countries, where the biotechnology-based industrial sector has become a vital force in their economies, the inability to form the scientific foundation for such a sector has prevented its birth in Jordan and the Arab World.

Since its establishment, the princess Haya Biotechnology Center has been a pillar of the scientific activity in Jordan through the cooperation agreements with the local institutions and hospitals dealing with genetic diseases in Jordan and through the continuous scientific activities at the national and regional levels. For instance, the center coordinates and cooperates with the Jordanian organization for the cystic fibrosis, the Jordanian organization for the Down syndrome and the thalasemia center at  Princess Rahma Teaching Hospital in Irbid.  Recently and as part of its policy to transfer expertise and biotechnologies through continuous education programs, the center hosted a workshop in cooperation with the Red Cross on forensic medicine and its applications. Another workshop on the latest advances in the area of protein technology was hosted in cooperation with the international BioRad Corporation. Furthermore, the center actively seeks to advance the pharmaceutical industry in Jordan through its R&D cooperation agreements with the national pharmaceutical companies. In accordance with its mission to advance scientific knowledge, the center hosts students from other Jordanian universities to introduce them to the latest research techniques employed by the center.

The center has recently expanded its activity beyond the national borders and established scientific cooperation with Arab and other countries. Cooperation is underway with forensic medicine institute in Iraq, the Saint Joseph University in Lebanon, and the Hamdan Bin Rashid Organization for Excellence in the UAE. In addition, the center hosts a number of graduate students from Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, there are a number of scientific cooperation agreements with the Human Genetics Center at the University of Humboldt in Germany and The Forensic Medicine Center at the University of Western Australia.

The center aims to increase awareness of the importance of biotechnology and research in order to help solve the large number of medical and health problems suffered by Jordanian people. In addition, the center seeks to actively participate in creating an advanced biotech industry on a firm scientific and technological base. For this reason the center has the short term goal for this year of preparing an Oracle database that should become a nucleus for the most advanced center for biotechnology and bioinformatics in the Arab region and will help the center achieve its long term goals. In addition, the center hopes to establish a virology research unit this year in light of the pressing need for such a unit in the kingdom created by the recent rise of incidents in of the Bird Flu and other viral infections in adjacent countries.

Philanthropic support is more important than ever, given the economic realities and challenges that face academic centers like Princess Haya Biotechnology Center. It makes the critical difference between maintaining ongoing programs and pursuing new ideas and translating research advances into clinical use for countless individuals who now have or may develop hereditary disorders. Gifts form individuals, foundations and corporations will help to strengthen our role in teaching the next generation of scientists and clinicians. They also provide resources to develop innovative programs in response to community needs. Contributions can be made for general support of our research or designated for a specific purpose or need, such as breast cancer research, cancer genetics, prevention and control and new equipment or facilities. 

Dr. Saied Jaradat, Ph.D
Princess Haya Biotechnology Center / Director