Dr. Ammar Albanna

Head of Mental Health Center of Excellence

Dr. Ammar Albanna

Head of Mental Health Center of Excellence

Biography

Dr. Ammar Albanna MD FRCPC IFAPA Head of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Center of Excellence Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Assistant Professor in Psychiatry, MBRU President, Emirates Society for Child Mental Health, Emirates Medical Association Dr. Ammar Albanna is a Canadian trained Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and the Head of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Center of Excellence at Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital in Dubai. He is the founding president of the Emirates Society for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, the national representative society for this field in United Arab Emirates, under the Emirates Medical Association. He is an Assistant Professor Assistant in Psychiatry at Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Dubai (MBRU). Dr. Albanna completed his psychiatry residency and child and adolescent psychiatry training at McGill University, Canada. He then Joined the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children as a fellow in Pediatric Neuropsychiatry.

Dr. Albanna is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and an international fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He also holds a Master’s degree in Healthcare Leadership from McGill University. Dr. Albanna has peer-reviewed research publications and is a recipient of Research Grant Awards as the Principal Investigator, including the Dubai Harvard Center for Global Healthcare Delivery Research Award and from Al Jalila Foundation. His current research focus is on neuropsychiatric disorders in the UAE including Autism Spectrum Disorder and innovative models for healthcare delivery. Dr. Albanna has received awards for recognition of his clinical, research and educational work. He is regularly invited to present at local and international scientific meetings.

Dr. Albanna is a peer reviewer for scientific medical journals and served on and chaired the scientific committee of several conferences. Dr. Albanna has chaired a global mental health conference on Autism Spectrum Disorder and will chair the global congress of the International Association of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists and Allied Professionals (IACAPAP) in 2022 in Dubai, following a winning bid for Dubai to host this prestigious congress. He is a member of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Mohamed Bin Rashid University. Further, served on the Jury committee for Princess Haya Award for Special Education, and Fatima Bint Mubarak Award for Motherhood and Childhood.

Professional Background

Medical School

1999-2005
MBBS, UAE Univerisity, Al Ain, UAE

Residency

2007-2012
Psychiatry Residency, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

Fellowship

2012-2013
Fellowship in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, The Montreal Children’s Hospital, McGill University, Montreal , Canada
2013-2014
Fellowship in Pediatric Neuropsychiatry, The Toronto Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
2018-2020
Masters in Healthcare Leadership - McGill University

Work Experience

2014 - To Date
Head of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Center of Excellence at Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital

Languages Spoken

  • English
  • Arabic

Achievements Career Highlights

  • Established (president) Emirates Society for Child Mental Health , EMA (2015)
  • Psychoanalytic Fellowship Program , English Psychoanalytic Society of Quebec, Montreal, Canada (2012)
  • Advisory Board Member - Rosalyn Carter Fellowship Program For Mental Health Journalism (2016-Present)
  • Saul Wilner Research Award - McGill University
  • Best teacher Awad - McGill University
  • Dubai Harvard Research Grant
  • Al Jalila Foundation Research Grant
  • Top consultant achiever award, DHA, AJCH

Research & Publications

  1. Utility of clinical exome sequencing in a complex Emirati pediatric cohort

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2001037020301616

  2. TCF4 gene polymorphism and cognitive performance in patients with first episode psychosis

    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0920996413005884

  3. Prevalence and correlates of conduct disorder among inmates of juvenile detention centres, United Arab Emirates

    https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/117527

  4. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Children and Adolescents: An Overview

    https://journals.healio.com/doi/abs/10.3928/00485713-20170908-01

  5. Self-esteem and other risk factors for depressive symptoms among adolescents in United Arab Emirates

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31935233/

  6. Long-Read Sequencing Improves the Detection of Structural Variations Impacting Complex Non-Coding Elements of the Genome

    https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/4/2060

  7. Single-cell transcriptome identifies molecular subtype of autism spectrum disorder impacted by de novo loss-of-function variants regulating glial cells

    https://humgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40246-021-00368-7

Al Jalila Children's Specialty Hospital

Al Jaddaf - Dubai United Arab Emirates

800 AJCH (8002524)
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