Qatar
HMC-Duke Centre to boost healthcare
HMC-Duke Centre to boost healthcare
Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), in partnership with the US-based Duke University, has announced the development of a Hamad-Duke Centre for Personalised and Precision Medicine that will support HMC’s efforts as the main healthcare provider in Qatar. |
The centre, which is part of Qatar’s Academic Health System (AHS), will provide evidence-based care grounded in world-class research.
As a precursor to this joint initiative, HMC and Duke University hosted the first Personalised and Precision Medicine Symposium attended by senior officials from HMC, local AHS partners, AHS international advisory board and other key stakeholders.
“Personalised and precision medicine has the potential to truly transform the way we prevent, diagnose and treat illness by allowing us to tailor our strategies to the individual patient,” said Gary Needle, chief of planning and performance at HMC, who delivered the welcome address at the symposium on behalf of Dr Hanan al-Kuwari, managing director, HMC.
Personalised medicine enables healthcare providers to approach patient care according to the unique genetic characteristics of each individual patient, allowing for more accurate diagnosis and optimised treatment and care.
Professor Edward Hillhouse, chief of Scientific, Faculty and Academic Affairs at HMC, spoke on the AHS vision to make personalised medicine an essential component of the healthcare delivery system in Qatar.
He explained that HMC and its AHS partners are investing in various healthcare and research facilities across Qatar and the new developments will support the initiative.
“Personalised medicine can help give us the tools to deal with pressing local health issues such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other lifestyle diseases,” Prof Hillhouse said.
Dr Ibrahim Janahi, executive director of Research at HMC, outlined HMC’s strategic plans for research and how these will support the implementation of personalised medicine in Qatar.
“As the main provider of healthcare in Qatar, we have the responsibility to make people aware of the importance of research and its application in improving treatments,” he said, detailing efforts to support local researchers such as HMC’s internal research grant programme and the Interim Translational Research Institute.
“We’re very excited about the field of personalised medicine coming to maturity and HMC will be a great partner in this endeavour,” said Dr Geoffrey Ginsburg, director for Genomic Medicine at Duke Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy, and executive director of Duke University Health System’s Centre for Personalised Medicine.
The symposium is the first in a series of events being held in Qatar that will contribute to the success of the National Qatar Genome Strategy Project.
The National Qatar Genome Committee, chaired by Dr Asmaa al-Thani, head of Qatar University’s Health Sciences Department and board vice-chairperson and consultant for Qatar BioBank, also held a two-day scientific workshop, bringing world-renowned experts together in Doha.