Two high-achieving WCM-Q alumni win prestigious awards

Two Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) alumni who now work at elite healthcare institutions in the US have won prestigious awards for their work in research and mentorship.

Breast cancer specialist Dr. Nour Abuhadra, who graduated with distinction from WCM-Q in 2015, won the 2023 Conquer Cancer Career Development Award presented by the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Dr. Abuhadra is now at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, renowned as one of the world’s leading cancer treatment centers, where she is co-director of the Rare Breast Cancer Program, which she established. She is also assistant attending physician in the center’s Breast Medicine Service, and co-section head of the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Clinical Research Program. Dr. Abuhadra has a special interest in rare breast cancer subtypes, with a particular focus on metaplastic breast cancers - a rare and aggressive form which is very difficult to treat.

Speaking about the award, Dr. Abuhadra said: “I am thrilled that the Conquer Cancer Foundation recognized our proposal to attempt to better understand mechanisms of resistant in metaplastic breast cancer as a severely unmet need. I hope that this award will not only further our understanding of this disease's biology but also serve as a stepping stone to more translational work that will allow us to personalize clinical care and tailor clinical trial options for patients with metaplastic breast cancer.”

In another success for a WCM-Q graduate, gastroenterologist Dr. Emad Mansoor of the Class of 2014 was awarded the Peter Agre Award for the Best House Staff Research Mentor of the Year, as voted for by the graduating class of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Case Western Reserve University/University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, of which he is the associate program director. Dr. Mansoor also holds the positions of assistant professor of medicine, and assistant program director of the Gastroenterology Fellowship at the same institution. The award is named after a former medical resident of Case Western Reserve University who won the 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and recognizes physicians who have been outstanding mentors to residents, fellows and medical students.

Dr. Mansoor said: “I dedicate this award to all my mentors in medical school, residency, fellowship and my early career who played a significant role in my academic growth and taught me the core values of perseverance and the importance of being a lifelong learner.”

Dr. Thurayya Arayssi, vice dean for academic and curricular affairs, said: “As an institution, WCM-Q strives to produce physician-scientists who lead improvements in patient care through innovation, research, and education. Dr. Abuhadra and Dr. Mansoor truly embody this ethos and we are extremely proud and delighted that their contributions have been acknowledged with these prestigious awards.”