One-size-fits-all supplements are yesterday’s answer to today’s lifestyle, long-haul flights, 50 °C summers, and cortisol levels that rival skyscrapers. Generic pills can’t keep pace, which is why personalised wellness—blood-drawn data translated into micro-dosed formulas—is fast becoming healthcare’s new baseline.
No one has pushed that shift harder in the Gulf than Banafsheh Salmani. UAE-raised, Canada-trained, and now steering Bioniq’s Middle-East expansion from Dubai, she has turned bio-hacking into mainstream conversation.
As the Managing Director, Banafsheh has overseen a 500 percent jump in regional users by swapping one-size-fits-all supplements with personalised formulas, powered by blood analysis and proprietary algorithmic insights. Strategic tie-ups with Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture & Tourism and Al Borg Diagnostics have cemented her credo: preventive care should feel as routine—and as personalised—as your morning flat white. In this Q&A the data-obsessed wellness leader unpacks growth lessons, women-first health gaps, and the movement ritual that keeps her own metrics in check.
Bioniq’s customer base in the region grew by 500 percent on your watch. What has that growth journey looked like?
We’ve observed a significant shift in consumer behavior in the GCC, where preventive healthcare and longevity have become top priorities. Today’s consumers are better informed, proactively educating themselves, and seeking holistic solutions rather than isolated treatments. Interestingly, our internal research shows that individuals in the GCC begin focusing on health span as early as in their 30s, which is relatively early.
Our journey began by really listening to our clients’ feedback, their pain points. We invested heavily in education, helping people understand the value of continuous biomarker tracking and individualized supplementation. At the same time, we built strategic partnerships with governmental organizations, companies and wellness centers, who shared our vision for personalized health. That ecosystem helped us scale trust, which is critical in this space.
Internally, we also focused on operational excellence, from improving the user experience to refining the personalisation algorithm that powers our supplement formulas. All of this created a service that not only met expectations but consistently exceeded them, leading to high retention and organic referrals.
Ultimately, the growth has been about combining innovation with trust. People are ready for proactive health solutions, and when you can deliver real, measurable results, they respond.
You’ve sealed headline collaborations with the Department of Culture & Tourism–Abu Dhabi and Al Borg Diagnostics. Why do links to public-sector credibility and clinical depth matter, especially for women who still treat health checks as a ‘nice-to-have’?
Collaborating with governmental bodies and trusted institutions is essential to raising public awareness and reinforcing the importance of preventive healthcare. These partnerships send a clear message: taking a proactive approach to health isn’t a privilege, it’s a fundamental right and responsibility for everyone.
Clinically backed insights empower women to prioritize their well-being not just for themselves, but for those who rely on them. When personalized health initiatives are supported by credible public-sector entities, it helps shift outdated mindsets, from reactive care to proactive, informed decision-making. It’s about reframing self-care as self-respect and integrating it into everyday life, rather than waiting for symptoms to appear.
Many wellness brands still sell one-size-fits-all solutions. Why is personalisation non-negotiable in modern health care, and how does Bioniq’s testing-plus-algorithm model turn raw data into truly bespoke supplementation?
At Bioniq, we believe that true health optimization begins with ownership, and we’re here to make that journey both accessible and effective. We empower our members to take accountability for their health by choosing the level of personalization that works for them.
For those just starting out, our Health Quiz provides a data-informed foundation, factoring in age, gender, BMI, lifestyle, and goals to generate a tailored supplement formula. For those who want deeper personalization, our blood-based program goes further, analyzing key biomarkers to create precision-driven formulations unique to each individual.
This data,whether from lifestyle inputs or lab results, fuels our proprietary algorithm, which calibrates every ingredient and dosage to match each person’s biology. Nothing is generic.
For members enrolled in Bioniq PRO, our hyper-personalized program, formulas are refined based on updated blood test results every 6 months. As your body evolves, so does your formula, ensuring your supplementation stays aligned with your current needs. It’s not guesswork. It’s personalized health, powered by science and built for real results.
As a leader who advocates “listening to the body,” what personal ritual helps you decelerate and reset before the post-summer business rush kicks in?
Movement is my daily ritual – a form of therapy that helps me reset, reflect, and recharge. Whether it’s an energizing gym session, a restorative Pilates class, or simply mindful breathwork, I tune in to what my body and mind need on that particular day.
As someone who strongly believes in listening to the body, I don’t force a rigid routine – I adapt. Life rarely slows down, whether in business or in our personal world, so it’s up to us to create moments of pause. That might be a full workout or just a 10-minute reset, but the key is paying attention to when your body is asking for space to recover.
Even when I’m moving, I see it as more than physical exercise – it’s a way to find clarity, balance, and inner resilience. There’s overwhelming scientific evidence on the benefits of movement for both physical and mental health, but for me, it’s also where I reconnect with myself.
Quick-Fire
• Supplement you never skip: My Bioniq PRO formula, because I personalize all aspects of my life, why shouldn’t my supplement routine be personalized too. Oh, and CREATINE!
• Go-to hydrating snack for 50 °C days: Rose water-infused cucumber slices. Thinly sliced cucumbers with a few drops of rose water sprinkled with Himalayan sea salt. I also love cold, crunchy watermelon.
• Last summer read that reshaped your wellness view: ROAR by Stacy Sims as it focuses on “women are not small men, so stop eating and training like men”.
• One line of advice to women entering health-tech in the Emirates: Trust your intuition, back it with data, and don’t be afraid to lead – health-tech in the Emirates needs your voice.
As the Managing Director, you sign off on every formula update and partnership. What market gap in Middle East women’s health still keeps you up at night, and how is Bioniq working towards filling that gap?
So much of women’s health has historically been reactive instead of proactive. Even today, many women across the Middle East lack access to clear, personalised insights about their own bodies, and are too often dismissed or misdiagnosed with vague labels like “just stress” or “normal.”
What keeps me up at night is knowing how many women are battling health concerns, nutrient deficiencies, hormonal imbalances, burnout – without answers, a clear path forward, or even the space to prioritise their own well-being.
With Bioniq and our hyper-personalized program, we help establish a health routine that adapts to each woman’s life. Our members undergo routine bloodwork every six months, allowing us to adjust their formulas as their needs evolve, whether they’re planning for pregnancy, navigating pregnancy, or entering motherhood. That level of personalization isn’t a nice-to-have – it’s essential.
Our mission is to close the gap between advanced health technology and everyday access. Because personalized health should never be a luxury – it should be the standard every woman can count on.
As someone who lives by the “Health is Wealth” mantra, what wellness advice would you offer other women? Especially the multi-faceted women of Dubai.
I’d say, my biggest piece of advice, especially for the incredible, multi-faceted women of Dubai, is this: prioritise your health as intentionally as you pursue your goals. Whether you’re managing a business, raising a family, building a career, or balancing all of the above, your wellbeing is the foundation that sustains everything else.
Dubai is a city that never slows down, fast-paced, ambitious and always evolving. That’s inspiring, but it also means women here often pour from an empty cup. So from time to time we all need to pause. Check in with our bodies. Wellness isn’t just about green juices and gym memberships. It’s about understanding your unique physiology, fueling it wisely, and taking ownership of your health on a deeper level.
To every woman in Dubai: you don’t have to choose between ambition and wellbeing. With the right tools, support, and mindset, you can have both – and thrive.
