On Saturday, April 8, His Highness Sheikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi, His Excellency Mohamed Haji Al Khoori, Director General of the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, and U.A.E. Ambassador to the U.S., His Excellency Yousef Al Otaiba, attended MD Anderson’s dedication of the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Building for Personalized Care.
The dedication program also featured remarks from Robert Wolff, M.D. chair ad interim of General Oncology and Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan al Nahyan Distinguished University Chair in Medical Oncology, John Mendelson M.D.
H.H. Sheikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan (4TH from left) attends the dedication ceremony for the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Building for Personalized Cancer Care
The 628,652 cubic-foot facility contains the Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy, the Sheikh Ahmed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research, and molecular diagnostics, histocompatibility, and molecular pathology research laboratories. Once fully completed, the Sheikh Zayed Building will accommodate over 2,000 researchers and support staff, and will be MD Anderson’s largest facility dedicated solely to research.
The Khalifa Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy’s goal is to create a new standard of personalized patient care. Its comprehensive program is designed to individualize cancer care so that each patient may receive treatments that target the genetic and molecular abnormalities in his or her tumor. The research is then used by MD Anderson and other pharmaceutical companies to create customized medicines with increased effectiveness.
The Sheikh Ahmed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research will focus on discovering new methods to protect individuals against pancreatic cancer. Its core mission is to bring together researchers who seek to improve patient survival through discovery and development of early detection systems and to understand mutations in pancreatic cancer.
The U.A.E.’s Khalifa Foundation, a strong supporter of healthcare, education, poverty alleviation initiatives, and biomedical research, provided the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center with $150 million – the largest gift ever received by the institution—in 2011, making the establishment of the Sheikh Zayed Center possible.
University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center is one of the world’s most respected centers devoted exclusively to cancer patient care, research, education, and prevention and was one of the nation’s original three comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Act of 1971. In 2015 MD Anderson Cancer Center was ranked as the best hospital for cancer care by U.S. News & World Report.
More information about MD Anderson can be found below.
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The University of Texas MD Anderson
In 1941 Texas Legislature collaborated with the Anderson Foundation to establish the hospital in the Texas Medical Center, Houston. Today, MD Anderson, part of the University of Texas System, has an estimated 21,000 employees, 1,714 faculty members and 3,100 volunteers. MD Anderson has invested over $735 million in research for cancer prevention. It’s mission is the elimination of cancer through programs that integrate patient care, research, and prevention.
