Throughout his career at Qatar Biomedical Research Institute, Dr. Alshaban has focused on applying epidemiological methods to investigate and evaluate the burden of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) on Qatari families and other families residing in Qatar. He began studying prevalence rates of ASD and all contributing risk factors associated with the disorder. From this, he and his team established the first ASD registry in Qatar funded by Qatar National Research Fund. The registry’s comprehensive database includes 110 variables regarding demographic, environmental, and clinical data of each diagnosed individual.

His current focus is the development of interdisciplinary research programs to improve early diagnosis, intervention, and treatment of ASD. He is working on the development of innovative screening and diagnostic tools using eye-tracking technology in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic. Moreover, Dr. Alshaban’s work includes translating and validating the Arabic version of the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ), which is a golden standard tool for ASD screening. Additionally, he recently established a commercial partnership with the American company Argus Cognitive Inc. to co-develop the first Arabic digital phenotyping for social communication behaviors as a diagnostic tool for ASD, using machine learning and artificial intelligence to be used in conjunction with ADOS-2 diagnostic tool.