A QBRI team was among the winners at HBKU's MIJHAR Cycle Demo Day

Dr. Fouad Abdul Wahab Al-Shaban and colleagues recognized for applying their work beyond research and into real-world impact through Autism-I-Track

Entity: Qatar Biomedical Research Institute

A team from Qatar Biomedical Research Institute’s (QBRI) Neurological Disorders Research Center (NDRC) achieved first place at the MIJHAR 1st Cycle Demo Day.

Led by Dr. Fouad Abdul Wahab Al-Shaban, Principal Investigator, NDRC, the team was awarded for the development of Autism-I-Track, a tool designed to support the early detection and diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). With a success rate exceeding 87%, the device uses an Arabic version of audio-visual stimuli to measure eye movements in response to social and non-social cues. Autism-I-Track was also among the technologies exhibited by HBKU at Web Summit Qatar 2025.

Reflecting on the award, Dr. Omar Albagha, Acting Executive Director, QBRI, commented: “A heartfelt congratulations to Dr. Fouad and his team. Their dedication to bringing Autism-I-Track to life reflects the NDRC’s commitment to greatly impacting the visibility of neurological disorders in Qatar and beyond. The technology being developed by Dr. Fouad will improve early detection of Autism, allowing for timely intervention and better quality of life for individuals with ASD and their families.”

Dr. Fouad's fellow awardees are: Iman Ghazal, Senior Research Associate; Dr. Sarah H. Aqel, Research Assistant; and Fatema AlZahra Al-Faraj, Research Assistant.

HBKU’s MIJHAR is a specialized 6-month training program for HBKU researchers determined to take their research outcomes from bench to marketplace. The program takes into consideration the unique challenges faced during the creation of knowledge-intensive start-ups and commercialization of early-stage technologies.