AUBMC and MD Anderson Sign Collaboration Agreement

Dr. Mendelsohn and Dean Cortas sign the agreement

The AUB Medical Center (AUBMC) and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, one of the top-rated cancer centers in the United States, recently signed a formal agreement that will expand opportunities for collaboration on research and patient care. Dr. Nadim Cortas, AUB Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and the Medical Center, and Dr. John Mendelsohn, president of MD Anderson Cancer Center, signed the agreement in Houston during MD Anderson's third annual Sister Institution Conference (June 5-8), which brought together more than 300 participants from 20 countries. The conference's main objective was to strengthen Anderson's network of institutions and affiliates by facilitating interactions and collaborations focusing on patient care, research, prevention, and education.

The AUB-MD Anderson partnership will enhance both institutions' shared missions of cancer prevention, education, research, and patient care in the United States, the Middle East, and around the world.

Over the past decade, AUBMC has signed several agreements and partnerships with renowned US academic institutions and medical centers, including an agreement with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, which was signed more than a year ago. The partnerships in research will improve AUB's chances to attract research funds and expand cooperation in the areas of education and clinical service within the region. AUBMC also signed a collaboration with the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in 2002, which established the Children's Cancer Center here in Lebanon.

Since it was built in 1902 and later expanded in 1970, the AUB Medical Center, which is now a 420-bed hospital, has been providing a comprehensive range of state-of-the-art health services to the people of Lebanon and the region, including surgical, pediatric, obstetrics/gynecological, and psychiatric capabilities. In 2005, 1,233 new cancer patients were seen, treated, and/or diagnosed at the facility. AUBMC was one of the first medical centers outside the United States to acquire full accreditation by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of HealthCare Organizations.

The partnership between AUBMC and MD Anderson is a natural consequence to the contributions made by several AUB alumni to the US institution. Among those who have held leadership positions at MD Anderson are Dr. Hagop Kantarjian, chair of the Department of Leukemia; Dr. Issam Raad, chair of the Department of Infectious Diseases; Dr. Raymond Sawaya, chair of the Department of Neurosurgery; Dr. Ray Hachem, assistant professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases; and Dr. Nizar Tannir, assistant professor in the Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology.