Oura and WHOOP start research studies with Abu Dhabi's health regulator

Abu Dhabi’s Department of Health announced two wearable research programs at its Future Health Summit on Oct 21 (Oura and WHOOP, Oct 21, 2026). The department regulates the emirate’s health system.

One program is with Oura and the other is with WHOOP, and both run 24 months. Oura’s study is about pregnancy. WHOOP’s is about heart and metabolic health.

Oura looks for early signs of preterm birth

Oura’s study is called Project CRADLE. It will follow women in Abu Dhabi with elevated risk pregnancies who choose to wear an Oura Ring from early pregnancy through delivery. The ring tracks heart rate, heart rate variability, sleep and activity. Researchers will pair that data with each woman’s clinical outcomes.

The study asks whether a reliable signal shows up in one woman’s data before spontaneous preterm labor. It also asks whether the signal comes early enough for care teams to act (Oura, Oct 21, 2026). Acting can mean treatments that support a baby’s lungs and brain, or a transfer to specialist neonatal care.

Corniche Hospital and Mediclinic Airport Road, two of the emirate’s maternity hospitals, will take part. Oura says its team of more than 50 in house M.D.s and Ph.D.s will lead the data analysis. The study will be IRB approved, and every participant gives informed consent and keeps standard clinical care. The data stays inside the department’s Trusted Research Environment.

Enrollment starts in the coming weeks, and results are due in 2028. Oura has not said how many women will enroll.

Preterm birth means a baby born before 37 completed weeks. It affects about 1 in 10 births worldwide, an estimated 15 million a year, according to the World Health Organization figures Oura cites.

CRADLE is the first of three pilots under a partnership Oura and the department announced on May 7, 2026. That deal starts with women’s health, preconception and perinatal care, then cardiometabolic risk (Department of Health Abu Dhabi, May 8, 2026).

WHOOP targets weight, blood pressure and blood sugar

WHOOP signed its agreement with the department the same day. The first study covers Abu Dhabi adults with obesity and high blood pressure. For six months it will track whether WHOOP data and coaching change weight, waist size, heart rate, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and sleep. Physicians in Abu Dhabi will support the study design and oversight (WHOOP, Oct 21, 2026).

Later studies in the 24 month program will test whether WHOOP helps people make the behavior changes that go with treatment. WHOOP has not said how many people will enroll.

WHOOP says it has worked in the UAE since 2016, starting with a worker wellness program for Expo 2020 Dubai. The company says it has raised more than $950 million in venture capital and ships to 56 countries (WHOOP, Oct 21, 2026).

One regulator, two studies

Neither company is launching a new feature. Oura’s announcement states that the Oura Ring is not a medical device. The studies test whether a health system can act on what a ring or a strap records.

The Oura study will draw on Abu Dhabi’s clinical and genomic records, according to The National (Oct 21, 2026). Semafor reported on Oct 22 that the emirate also signed a GLP-1 deal with Eli Lilly at the same summit. Mubadala Bio will package and distribute the drugs locally.

In the U.S., Oura data is headed toward Medicare patients through the CMS ACCESS model. We covered that in our story on Oura’s Cardio Effort and VO2 max features.

Why it matters

Doctors and health plans ask one question before they use wearable data: does it change outcomes? Now a regulator that holds the hospital records is running that test with two of the biggest wearable brands. The ring and the strap already collect the data. Abu Dhabi is testing whether care teams can use it.