Cambridge Health Group and Middlesex University Dubai sign healthcare education deal

Cambridge Health Group (CHG) and Middlesex University Dubai have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that ties together the region's largest post-acute care provider with one of its most established international universities. The deal was signed at a ceremony on the MDX Dubai campus on July 6, 2026, attended by senior figures including Dr Ali Saeed bin Harmal Aldhaheri, Chairman of Cambridge Health Group.

CHG operates more than 700 beds across six facilities in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, employing over 1,200 healthcare professionals. It is majority-owned by Amanat Holdings PJSC and holds accreditations from bodies including Joint Commission International and the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities. Middlesex University Dubai is part of the London-based Middlesex University network and has a significant presence in Dubai Knowledge Park.

The agreement sets out a broad agenda covering research, digital health, professional training and community wellbeing. While MOUs are non-binding in nature, this one is detailed enough to signal serious intent from both sides, with five named strategic pillars and a plan to build joint Centres of Excellence.

How will it work?

The partnership is built around five areas of collaboration:

• Research: Joint projects on health economics, rehabilitation and integrated care, with shared grant applications, publications and conferences.
• Digital health and AI: Work on predictive analytics, remote patient monitoring and healthcare data analytics to improve patient outcomes.
• Workforce development: Graduate career programmes, internships, industry placements and customised executive education for healthcare professionals.
• Centres of Excellence: Plans to build dedicated centres focused on post-acute care, rehabilitation, digital health, AI, predictive home care, and dementia and healthy ageing.
• Community health: Joint wellbeing programmes, academic exchanges and industry advisory work aimed at strengthening healthcare systems beyond the hospital setting.

Wael K. Abdallah, Group CEO of Cambridge Health Group, said the deal would "advance innovation in post-acute care, rehabilitation and digital health while creating meaningful opportunities for professional development, knowledge creation and improved patient care."

Professor Cedwyn Fernandes, Provost and Director of Middlesex University Dubai, framed it as a way to "develop solutions that improve healthcare delivery while preparing the next generation of healthcare professionals."

Why does it matter?

Post-acute care, which covers rehabilitation, long-term care and home healthcare after a hospital stay, is a growing but often underfunded area of healthcare globally. In the Gulf region, it is still developing relative to the acute hospital sector, which makes research partnerships like this one genuinely useful rather than purely symbolic.

The focus on AI and digital health is also worth noting. Predictive analytics and remote monitoring are already changing how chronic and long-term conditions are managed in more mature healthcare markets. Applying that kind of thinking to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where the patient population and healthcare infrastructure are both growing fast, could produce practical results.

For MDX Dubai, the deal gives students direct access to a major clinical network for placements and applied research. For CHG, it provides an academic partner to help build credibility around research output and workforce training at a time when competition for qualified healthcare professionals in the region is intense.

The context

Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia have made healthcare development a national priority. Saudi Vision 2030 includes significant investment in health infrastructure and localisation of the healthcare workforce. The UAE has similar ambitions, with Dubai and Abu Dhabi both investing in health tech and medical education.

Middlesex University Dubai has been active on the AI front recently. Just days before this announcement, the university said it had trained more than 100 staff members in AI applications for their day-to-day roles, a sign that the institution is trying to build genuine capability rather than just talk about the technology.

CHG's parent company, Amanat Holdings, is a healthcare and education investment company listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. Its backing gives CHG both the financial stability and the strategic incentive to invest in partnerships that link clinical operations to education and research, which is increasingly how the most competitive healthcare groups in the region are positioning themselves.