Affiliation Agreement for Sidra Medical and Research Center Signed by Qatar Foundation and Weill Cornell Medical College
October 18, 2010

Dr. Mohammad Fathy Saoud and Dr. Antonio Gotto, Jr., exchange
congratulations after the signing of the affiliation agreement.

Sidra Medical and Research Center will become Qatar’s newest academic medical center through an historic affiliation agreement signed Monday by officials of Qatar Foundation and Weill Cornell Medical College at a meeting of the Joint Advisory Board of Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar.

“The affiliation agreement is the culmination of the work of several months, building upon the trust and good relationship we have with Cornell University,” says Dr. Ghalia Bint Mohammed Al-Thani, co-chair of the WCMC-Q Joint Advisory Board and a member of Sidra Board of Governors and the Supreme Council of Health. “This will ensure for Sidra the highest quality academic medicine,” adds Dr. Ghalia. “The work will start now as we work together to begin to recruit the highest caliber of physicians, surgeons and health professionals across the full spectrum of health professionals who contribute to patient care, medical education and resident training as well as cutting edge biomedical research. We are all looking forward to the future that our collaboration will ensure.”

“The signing of the affiliation agreement represents another important milestone in the history of the partnership with Weill Cornell Medical College, which started almost 10 years ago,” says Mohammad Fathy Saoud, Ph.D, vice chair of Sidra Board of Governors, president of Qatar Foundation, and a member of the Joint Advisory Board for Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar.

“The essence of an academic medical center is its tripartite mission of excellence in patient care, medical education, and research, all receiving equal attention. The great medical schools and hospitals are the ones that contribute new knowledge, new procedures and new treatments. This cannot be done without extensive research investment, which can attract the very top quality health professionals. His Highness the Emir, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani has endowed Sidra Medical and Research Center with an endowment of nearly $8 billion, the largest endowment for any academic medical center in the world,” says Dr. Saoud. “The vision of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned Chairperson of Qatar Foundation and Chair of Sidra Board of Governors is to develop Sidra as a beacon of knowledge, for medical education, and research throughout the Middle East,” adds Dr. Saoud.

Under the affiliation agreement, Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar will be the primary partner for Sidra Research and Medical Center. The hospital, which will open in 2012 with 400 beds, will focus initially on providing specialty care for women and children along with certain speciality medical and surgical services.

“This agreement is very exciting for us,” says Javaid Sheikh, M.D., dean of Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. “In addition to the clinical education at Hamad Medical Corporation, our students will learn to provide the best patient care, using Sidra’s advanced technologies such as robotics, computer-aided surgery and diagnostics, digital imaging, and electronic patient records. Our faculty members will be involved in Sidra’s patient care, research medical education and resident training, which will allow us to fully integrate our tripartite mission,” says Dr. Sheikh. “Through the vision of His Highness, the Emir of Qatar, and Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, chairperson of the Qatar Foundation, our students and our faculty can participate in the effort to transform Qatar into a knowledge-based society.”

“We look forward to our collaboration with Sidra Medical and Research Center,” says Dr. Antonio M. Gotto, dean of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York. “Together, our efforts will allow us to address health problems that transcend national boundaries and improve the health and well-being of people around the world.”