Women of Vision: How Emirati Nephrologist champions early kidney care

The kidneys perform their essential work almost invisibly, filtering waste, regulating blood pressure and maintaining the body’s delicate chemical balance. Their silence can also conceal disease for years, allowing damage to advance while a person continues to feel well. Dr Hassa Obaid Khalifa Al-Zaabi, nephrologist at OMICS Precision Health, Dubai, has built her career around detecting those hidden risks, protecting kidney function and strengthening the healthcare systems surrounding every patient.

Al-Zaabi chose nephrology after recognising the need for greater local expertise in the field. At the time, very few Emirati physicians had specialised in kidney care, which strengthened her determination to pursue it. “It made me want to contribute in an area where I felt we needed more local expertise,” she says. In 2005, she travelled to Sheffield in the UK to undertake specialist training in nephrology.

Nephrology continues to hold her interest because the kidneys reveal so much about the wider body. Their health is shaped by blood pressure, cardiovascular and metabolic conditions, diabetes and autoimmune disease. “As a nephrologist, you have to understand what is happening across the body as well as in the kidneys,” she explains.

Reading the risks

Prevention remains central to her work because kidney disease frequently develops without clear warning signs. “A person can feel perfectly well while kidney damage is developing, particularly in the early stages,” she says.

Women should understand their personal risk profile, especially if they have diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, cardiovascular disease, an autoimmune condition or a family history of kidney disease. Screening is simple: a blood test estimates the kidneys’ filtering capacity, while a urine test can identify albumin, an early indication of damage.

Al-Zaabi recommends keeping blood pressure and glucose controlled, staying active, avoiding smoking and reducing excess salt and ultra-processed foods. She also urges caution with frequent or unsupervised use of anti-inflammatory medicines, including ibuprofen and diclofenac.

Diabetes and hypertension are leading causes of chronic kidney disease. High glucose levels gradually harm the kidneys’ small blood vessels, while uncontrolled blood pressure damages their filtering system. Kidney disease can then make blood pressure harder to manage. This cycle carries particular relevance in the UAE, where cardiometabolic conditions remain a serious concern. Regular monitoring allows doctors to detect changes early and protect remaining function.

Care beyond the consultation

Al-Zaabi’s Diploma in Government Excellence Model has expanded her work into healthcare quality and institutional leadership. Clinical experience has shown her that outcomes depend on coordinated care, consistent standards and a system capable of learning from its shortcomings.

“Doctors are in a useful position because we experience healthcare systems through our patients every day,” she says. Their perspective can identify gaps and shape improvements that reach far beyond an individual consultation.

She describes the UAE’s support for women’s education and professional advancement as a defining advantage in her own career. Her greatest challenges came from the demands of specialist medicine: pursuing training abroad, entering a field with few Emirati doctors and remaining current as science and treatment continually evolve. These experiences shaped a leadership philosophy centred on learning, contribution and measurable improvements in patient care.

Her message to young Emirati women on Emirati Women’s Day is direct: specialised fields should invite ambition. Healthcare is advancing through precision health, genomics, artificial intelligence and sophisticated diagnostics, areas in which the UAE is investing significantly.

“We will always need Emirati women with the expertise to contribute to these fields and lead within them,” Al-Zaabi says. She encourages them to follow the subject that genuinely interests them, master it and use that knowledge in service of their patients and country. n

Doctors are in a useful position because we experience healthcare systems through our patients daily. Our perspective can identify gaps and shape improvements that reach beyond individual consultations."