6th GAED Congress 2026 — the Gulf's endocrinology and diabetes meeting
The Gulf Association of Endocrinology & Diabetes (GAED) holds its 6th annual congress on 16–17 October 2026 at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City, United Arab Emirates. GAED is the officially recognised regional body representing endocrinology and diabetes leaders across the Gulf, and was previously active under the name AACE Gulf Chapter. Following the strong turnout of the previous edition, the 2026 congress is fully organised under the GAED banner.
Who this congress is designed for
The programme is built for a deliberately broad clinical audience: adult and pediatric endocrinologists, internists, pediatricians, family medicine physicians, cardiologists, and any practitioner whose caseload includes diabetes, obesity, thyroid disease or metabolic bone disorders. Diabetes educators, clinical pharmacists and endocrine nurses will also find the parallel sessions directly applicable to daily practice.
Scientific programme
Across two days delegates can expect plenary sessions, specialised parallel tracks and state-of-the-art lectures delivered by an assembled faculty of regional and international experts. Content spans the practical and the forward-looking: contemporary type 1 and type 2 diabetes management, incretin-based and obesity pharmacotherapy, continuous glucose monitoring and technology-enabled care, thyroid and pituitary disease, adrenal disorders, metabolic bone health, and diabetes in pregnancy. Sessions are framed around what has changed in the guidelines and how it translates into Gulf clinical settings, where diabetes and obesity prevalence remain among the highest globally.
Faculty and leadership
The congress is led by GAED President Dr. Tarik ElHadd (Senior Consultant Endocrinologist, Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar), with a board and chairperson panel drawn from across the region — including Dr. Mohammed Bashir (HMC, Qatar), Dr. Naji Aljohani (King Fahad Medical City, Saudi Arabia), Dr. Saud AlSifri (Al Hada & Taif Armed Forces Hospitals, President of the Saudi Society for the Study of Obesity), Dr. Bachar Afandi (Tawam Hospital, UAE), Dr. Fatheya AlAwadi (President, Emirates Diabetes Society), Dr. Juma AlKaabi (UAEU), Dr. Thamer Alessa (Dasman Diabetes Institute, Kuwait), Dr. Ali AlReesi (Sohar Hospital, Oman), Dr. Raya Almazrouei (Tawam Hospital, UAE), Dr. Salwa Aidarous (KSAU-HS Jeddah) and Dr. Hasan Frookh Jamal (Salmaniya Medical Complex, Bahrain).
Why attend
GAED Congress has become the natural annual meeting point for the Gulf endocrine community — close enough to home to be practical, and broad enough in faculty to carry international guideline-level content. For clinicians in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, it is a concentrated two days of updates, regional collaboration and networking with the people setting endocrine practice standards in the region.
Registration is open through the official congress website.
