DAVOS: A Saudi health technology startup is charting new territory in ophthalmology and artificial intelligence by taking eye disease research beyond Earth. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, co-founders Selwa Al-Hazzaa and Naif Al-Obaidallah announced a partnership with Cornell University to study the eye microbiome in space.
Al-Hazzaa, an ophthalmologist with 35 years of experience, said the project was born out of frustration with the lack of treatments for many eye diseases.
“Why don’t we take samples of the eye microbiome, send them to space, and see how they mutate?” she said. “Whatever solutions we find in space will help astronauts — and can also help patients here on Earth.”
The initiative is fully Saudi-led, supported by the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology and the Saudi Space Agency. Simulation labs in the Kingdom will test findings before they are deployed in orbit.
“We evaluated many institutions and found Cornell to be at the forefront of space technology and microbiome research,” Al-Hazzaa added.
The collaboration builds on the company’s broader AI healthcare work. Its SAARIA system automates retinal image analysis, allowing non-specialists to detect eye diseases. Other tools streamline diagnostics in ophthalmology and mammography.
“It’s going to augment physicians, not replace them,” Al-Hazzaa said. “We can now deliver patients who need surgery on a silver platter.”
Al-Obaidallah highlighted the regulatory and ethical challenges of building a healthtech startup but said Saudi Arabia’s ecosystem has evolved rapidly.
“A few years ago, there were very few startups. Now thousands are incubated across ministries, and Saudi Arabia leads the region in investment and unicorn creation,” he said.
The company’s solutions are already reaching tens of thousands of underserved patients. By focusing on diabetes-related eye disease, SDM has helped save the sight of more than 40,000 patients free of charge.
The startup is now moving into predictive healthcare, aiming to forecast conditions such as hypertension, stroke, and Alzheimer’s using retinal scans. A recent grant from the Research Development Innovation Authority will support this expansion.
Al-Hazzaa said the journey reflects both personal passion and national transformation.
“People thought I was crazy in the beginning,” she said. “Today, as a Saudi woman in tech, I can say we’ve surpassed the G20 and Silicon Valley in female involvement, with 36 percent of our team being women.”
Al-Obaidallah added: “We’re making AI healthcare accessible for everyone. Healthcare is not a privilege; it’s a right.”
