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Marking 25 years of diagnostic service in the UAE, Thumbay Labs, the largest network of academic diagnostic referral laboratories in the Northern Emirates, has earned ISO 15189:2022 accreditation, the international standard for quality and competence in medical laboratories. The accreditation joins the laboratory’s existing accreditation from the College of American Pathologists (CAP), giving Thumbay Labs two of the most respected quality marks in the field at once.
The milestone caps a journey that began in 2001. Thumbay Labs started as a small unit set up to support the group’s first hospital and the clinical training of Gulf Medical University, built on the founder’s philosophy of growth through innovation. From those modest beginnings as one lab, it has grown into network of 5 labs and one of the UAE’s most advanced laboratory systems, now running from a 25,000-square-foot diagnostic complex at Thumbay Medicity, with sites across the Northern Emirates.
The numbers behind the milestone tell the story. Over 25 years, Thumbay Labs has underpinned a healthcare network that has treated more than 19 million patients and supported the delivery of over 100,000 babies, care that depends on laboratory results at nearly every step. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the laboratory operated around the clock as a regional molecular testing centre, processing up to 15,000 tests a day at its peak. Taken together, that work adds up to an estimated 30 million or more laboratory tests for patients from over 175 nationalities, a reflection of the diversity of the communities Thumbay Labs serves across the UAE.
ISO 15189:2022 is the most recent version of the global standard written specifically for medical laboratories. It sets out what a laboratory must do to manage quality and prove technical competence, covering the full journey of a test, from how a sample is collected and handled to how a result is checked, interpreted, and reported. Earning it means an independent assessment has confirmed that the laboratory’s systems produce reliable results, consistently.
Holding CAP and ISO 15189 accreditation together is not common. CAP accreditation, awarded by the College of American Pathologists in the United States, is widely regarded as a gold standard for laboratory inspection. ISO 15189 adds an internationally recognised framework used across the GCC and around the world. Side by side, the two tell clinicians, hospitals, and patients the same thing: results from Thumbay Labs are measured against the highest expectations in laboratory medicine.
“Twenty-five years ago, we set out to build a laboratory this region could rely on,” said Dr. Thumbay Moideen, Founder President of Thumbay Group. “Our vision now is to make Thumbay Labs a global name in diagnostics, expanding from the UAE across the GCC and beyond.
Thumbay Labs runs a full suite of diagnostic departments, including clinical chemistry, haematology, microbiology, molecular diagnostics, esoteric and bioanalytical testing, occupational health, histopathology, and newborn screening. Histopathology anchors its cancer diagnosis work, while its newborn screening programme is one of the largest in the Northern Emirates, catching metabolic and genetic disorders in babies early. A dedicated clinical research unit and an independent quality assurance team support the work across all sites, which include laboratories at Gulf Medical University and the Thumbay Hospitals in Ajman, Dubai, and Fujairah, and with a new laboratory in Abu Dhabi planned to open soon while maintaining reliable results and fast reporting as constant priorities.
The accreditation lands as Thumbay Labs widens access to its services
The laboratory is introducing a mobile app and a web app that let patients book and pay for tests online, and its home sample collection service will expand to Abu Dhabi soon. The aim is to make accurate, dependable diagnostics easier to reach for patients across the country.
Thumbay Labs is preparing to launch blood-based testing for Alzheimer’s disease, a minimally invasive alternative to spinal taps and PET scans,requiring only a simple blood draw. The panel screens for established markers of the disease, including ApoE4, pTau181, pTau217, and neurofilament light chain, making early, large-scale screening far more accessible than it has been.
Behind it sits a broader shift the laboratory calls Lab 5.0, a model that combines its scientific expertise with AI-assisted quality monitoring, predictive analytics, and deeper automation. The goal is to move diagnostics from a reactive service to one that helps catch disease earlier and guide treatment more precisely.
Thumbay Labs is one of the largest chains of CAP-accredited private academic laboratories in the region. Established in 2001, it has served patients across the UAE for 25 years, offering routine and highly specialised testing through a round-the-clock facilities and holding dual CAP and ISO 15189 accreditation. Thumbay Labs is licensed by the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention. For more information, visit thumbaylabs.com.